Star Fox: Confrontation
by SFOXMASTERX
Summary: Fox is replaced by a new leader known as Skye, and is greeted with an old love as well, Fara. What starts as a tale of relationship trouble blooms into a story of greater peril as new evil comes to surface and the Lylat System is attacked.
1. Greetings

**Chapter 1: Greetings**

"You call this a ship? Geez... I've seen better things held together with tape. And not the heavy duty kind, either."

Commander Skye Abison stood above the massive hull of the Great Fox as snow whooshed past his face. He, along with the rest of the Star Fox team, drifted gently within the atmosphere of Fichina.  
"Can't believe I'd be demoted... it was my team, too..."  
Fox sat, sulking over his recent loss.  
"Oh, Fox... don't be too sore..." Krystal began to speak, putting her hand on Fox's shoulder. After all-"  
"... You weren't honestly expecting any less after the incident in Sector L, were you?"  
"Skye..." Krystal sighed.  
"'Cause I tell ya, that's a heck of a way to take out a base."  
"Skye! Leave him alone! It wasn't his fault!"  
"It was an accident... but surely not worth replacing me."  
"Whatever. We're almost here."  
"Here? You never told us where we were going... why Fichina?" Fox began to mumble. "Some leader you are..."  
Skye grinned and sat down, staring off the edge of the ship and down at the ground.  
"Fichina... WONDERFUL place. Nothin' quite like the constant bombardment of snow. I'd say that we're here to fix the malfunction of the Climate Control Center, but it's been taken care of."  
"Then once again... why are we here?" Fox snapped and started to stare at the back of Skye's head.  
"Because... the one who took care of it's our new member."  
"What? We're getting a new member? Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Krystal jumped to her feet, shivering.  
"Heh. That'd ruin the surprise."

The ship was lowered down slowly to a height of about 10 meters, an easy jumping height for Skye. He leaped off and did a flip, crashing his feet into the snow.  
"Wow. The white stuff just kind of... BUILDS around here. You guys can stay if you want, it'll only take a minute."

He walked forward and greeted a figure, taking its hand and pulling it back to the ship.  
"Hold on, Krys, I'm gonna go see who it is."  
He jumped down and landed face first into the snow.  
"Oof... you okay, Fox?" Krystal giggled and peered down over the edge.  
Fox did not respond and instead struggled to free his face from the frosty ground.  
"Wow. Some leader you made, I'm sure." Skye remarked with his usual sarcastic tone.  
Fox freed himself and wiped the ice off of his ears, looking up from the ground at a familiar young vixen.  
"Hi, Fox..."  
"Fara? You... you're the new team member?"  
He slid back on the ice and began to blush. She was wearing a small parka and helped him up with a mitten-clad hand.  
"You look happy to see me." She said in a cheerful tone. "I'm just glad to have gotten that job. Finally some money..."  
"Yeah... you always got high grades on your exams, I... I think you'll do fine."  
"Mmm-hmm. Plus... it's nice to see you again." She whispered.  
Fox swallowed and jumped back to the newly descended Great Fox, climbing up and walking inside with a heavy blush.  
"Aw, we're like one big, happy, idiotic family... tch." Skye scoffed.  
He followed with another great leap to the top of the ship, quickly darting inside, mumbling about the cold.  
"Wow... this is the Great Fox? It's... smaller than I thought. So much for budget..."  
She climbed up the side ladder and jumped on, following Skye inside and taking off her bulky suit and gloves.

Fox felt his heart pound as he raced to his room. How was he going to pull this off? Fara made a lovely addition, but... in too many ways! Could he possibly go on like he did before? As if nothing had changed? He had to pull this off... after all, he still had Krystal. And his heart was with her. He was determined to stay like this... the time at the Academy meant nothing. To stay professional... was key. She's just another member.

He walked out and saw Skye staring up at the sky.  
"So... what's new? Any news on HQ?"  
"HQ? Heck no. We haven't had anything to do and we STILL don't have anything to do."  
"Something'll turn up, Fox. Don't worry yourself." Krystal smiled.  
"Ah... the whole mercenary life is something I'm going to have to get used to..." Fara looked down.  
"It's something we've all gotten used to... or... are all still trying to get used to. But hey, pay's good and we get to eat nachos all day." Skye grinned and continued staring off of the edge. "C'mon, Falco and the others are waiting. And boy, won't they be surprised."  
"Y-yeah..." Fox responded.


	2. Progression with Change

**Chapter 2: Progression with Change**

Skye docked the ship into the large base of the headquarters, a colossal complex of steel and metal. He wagged his tail contently behind him as he fiddled with the controls and stared mindlessly over at the nearby clock.

"Ah… this is the life. Somewhat. Even in this fine day and age, this job never tires me… ah. And it's 1:30 AM, Earth time. I want to go to Earth some day…" 

The darkness of space was soothing… Skye's red fox fur shone in the light from the ceiling in the dingy room and the same light reflected from his sunglasses, black as space as he resumed rambling to himself.

"Pity… pity that the Great Fox was destroyed. I liked that thing. I was hoping to commandeer it one day… but alas. I'm stuck with this piece of junk. The 'Great Fox', we still call it… but it's all just junk. Refuse. Garbage. Scrap metal."

He continued to talk to himself for hours until the rest of the team awoke and managed to pull themselves together to relocate to the base.

"My legs… are the beds always that uncomfortable, Fox?"

"Unfortunately… yes." Fox replied to Fara, stretching out his arms and cracking his back loudly. "But… you get used to it after a while… a very long while, but still... agh… what a night…"

Skye walked in and sat in his personally labeled chair at the end of the large table in the grand conference hall of the HQ, sipping periodically at his lukewarm cup of coffee and eagerly awaiting his first major mission since when he first joined. His team… his team… something about that made it all seem worthwhile, the waiting and all. It was needless to say that he was awaiting something to do, and the pay to go with it. However, there was no major work to do, and not nearly enough money to afford a newer and full-sized version of the Great Fox. The various team members, including Falco, Peppy, and Slippy who had remained at the HQ greeted the rest of the team, and everyone headed back to their more comfortable rooms, sans Skye and Krystal.

"Skye. I have business to attend to… may I leave?" Krystal started worriedly at the half-awake fox and tapped her foot impatiently, occasionally staring toward the door to the hangar.

"Why not? We haven't had anything else to do, minus those stupid chores we've been doing all day. If I may ask, what are you doing?" He gave a quizzical stare into her eyes.

"It's… personal business. But thank you." She bolted out of the door and jumped into her arwing, overlooking her standard systems check and flying off to the Sauria airspace, clearly in a hurry.

"Youngsters these days… always in a hurry."

Fox sat back on his bed with a satisfied groan.

"Ah… home sweet… home of sorts."

It was a long day, full of pointless activities. Whether it was transporting some sort of machine from the orbital gate or anything else, it was… boring! The Star Fox team is a group of mercenaries, not… merchants. He gave a small sigh and closed his eyes. So much on my mind, he thought. And so much left to do… all of it pointless. Everything was falling apart around him. He couldn't keep his mind on Krystal, and the money… there was none. It was just like a few years ago, right before he met her. The arwings were falling into disrepair, as was the Great Fox. Today's odd jobs netted some money, but…

A gentle knock was heard at the door, followed with Fox slowly opening it a few inches to view who it was.

"Fara? What do you need?"

He opened the door fully and let her in, starting to blush for no apparent reason and hiding his face in reaction. He sat back down and acted relaxed, though he was quite tense.

"Um… which way's my room?" She questioned, sheepishly. "I still don't know my way around here, so… can you… you know… help me out?"

He gave a quick nod and pointed down the hall.

"To the left… at the end. I think it's… um… room 208."

She gave a small grin and peered around the corner.

"Hmm… still can't read maps. You know how I was back in those days, Fox… and I haven't changed. Thanks for the help, as always. You're always willing to help me in my time of need…"

She gave Fox an inconspicuous wink and hurried off to her room.

"… O-oh… she's flirting with me…" He sighed exasperatedly and buried his face in his pillow, drifting off into much needed sleep.

"_Fox? What are you doing?"_

"_It's the only way… don't worry. It's nothing."_

"_But… we should just wait. We've done all we could. Let's just let this take care of itself."_

"_No… I have to be able to help… somehow… I'm gonna do it. It's just routine. No need to worry about it. It's just another little mission…"_

"_Fox… wait! Wait!"_

Fox awoke suddenly.

"Again with this… one wrong mistake and it costs me everything… my job, my reputation… and now my sanity. There's only so much I can take of this…"

"But… you still have me."

Fox turned his head in shock to the side to see Fara, lying next to him in bed.

"F-Fara! How- wh- what are you doing in here? How?"

"Shh… no need to wake anyone. I stole the card to your room earlier. Crafty, aren't I…?"

"But… you can't be in here without my consent…"

Fara scoffed at this and wrapped her arm around Fox's shoulder.

"You know… you loved me once. Before you met that witch of a fox, Krystal."

"Hey! I-I… now I'm with her… and I'm not going to tolerate you saying-"

"Quiet." She quickly silenced Fox, almost with a snapping tone of voice. "I'm just the messenger, Fox… well, the messenger and the topic. Look deep inside yourself and see that she means nothing to you. Trust me on this one… you're far better off with me."

Fox sprung to his feet in shock and recoiled to the wall.

"What's… wrong with you, Fara?" He was clearly blushing heavily and trembling as well.

"I'm just doing what's best for you… and for myself."

She grinned and pinned him to the wall, kissing him hard and near violently. Fox hesitated for a few seconds and eventually gathered the strength to throw her off, reluctantly.

"Fara… I… I just can't… I want you back, but Krystal-"

"Aha!" She interrupted, placing a fine-clawed finger to his lips. "You admit it now…"

Fox started to sweat visibly and started to stammer.

"I-I… o-of course… I mean… I… but that was a long time ago! I can't possibly know whether I still do or not…"

"Then… we shall see…"

The dominant vixen trapped him against the wall a second time and put her lips to his. This time, however, Fox did not intervene… and instead closed his eyes and enjoyed.

As if fate itself was against the two, it was at that exact moment that Krystal slid her card into the door and silently opened it, frozen in shock at what she was witnessing. Amidst the dark silence, Krystal barely managed to mutter a single word, her face clouded with her hot tears.

"F-Fox…"


	3. Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 3: Calm Before the Storm**

Fox and Fara both spun around, their mouths agape.

"Krystal…! How long have you… been standing there?" Fox struggled to get out the words and felt his mouth go severely dry. He searched and searched for something, ANYTHING to say, but there was nothing. Krystal had caught him and he had to face the consequences. However, was that so bad? Perhaps somewhere in his heart he never did love Krystal… or was this Fara's doing? She was a forceful vixen and had many times before swayed Fox's actions. This meant nothing to Krystal, however. Her agonized and melancholy expression had altered to a seething anger. She had her fists clenched, hard, waiting for a moment to attack either of them but at the same time resisting her urges.

"The whole kiss… but I'm sure neither of you even noticed me!" She began to screech and tear up once more, completely shattered.

Fox swallowed and took a step back, suddenly blocked by the sharp feeling of Fara's outstretched claws. He winced and looked to the side at Fara, who was just as livid.

"No… this isn't your call, Miss Krystal… Fox chose this himself. And it was, by far, the better choice." She almost giggled, smiling with an angry glower.

"Whose morals do you go by to say who is wrong or right?" Krystal took a step forward and gazed furiously into Fara's eyes. "You have no right to argue that what you did was the 'Right thing'!"

Fara responded with a small and sincere smile and took a step forward as well, her claws out and her teeth clenched.

"Depends on whose standards you go by… you know… ever thought that you were just incompetent…? That Fox used to just… dream of a real vixen to take your place…? While you were clueless, lying beside him? Hm?"

"Shut up…" Krystal backed away slowly and Fara advanced, nearly pinning Krystal against the wall.

"… Just brooding in your own way how you will never be able to become what I am… to never come close to… even holding Fox's interest. Ha."

Fox grasped Fara by the arm. "Stop! There's no point in this… we have to hold it together… all of us… we're a team, remember?" He had no clue what to do. Fara's side? Or Krystal's? Either way, he would lose somehow…

Krystal was in tears once again, sobbing deeply whilst trying to hide it, pitifully. "Y-you don't understand… he loved me…"

"Loved…" Fara grins cruelly and takes yet another stop toward Krystal. "Loved… as in… did once, but not any more, you see. He loves me now, no need to squander your time with a wasted effort."

Krystal had no will to fight any longer and ran off, bursting into constant, grieving tears of indignation.

"Fara… why? I mean…"

"I was simply defending what I had." Fara responded coldly. "You. I'm am not about to lose you, Fox… I'm not about to lose my one chance of happiness that I've for years searched for… I've missed you, Fox…"

Fox tried to smile, but barely could. He loved Fara; this was true. Nevertheless, was he going to let Fara crush Krystal like this? He still cared for Krystal… even if it was just a worker-worker relationship. He did not want to have to see her in tears again…

"I… I've missed you, too…" He gave a long sigh and rubbed his eyes. "I'm tired…"

He silently got into bed, followed by Fara, who snuggled against his back, somewhat to his dismay after the skirmish. Meanwhile, Skye was sitting in the control room, still eager for something to occupy his time.

"Ooh, look. Seismic report. Sector P-42… Alpha structure of the Lylat System? Wow… P-42 isn't too far off. But I've no time for some stupid earthquake. I've gotta crash… I don't think I've had any decent sleep in… two… days…" A bout of sudden lulling exhaustion hit him and he was asleep in seconds.

"_Incredible! This guy has got some serious talents."_

"_Thanks, sir. Can I move on now?"_

"_And quite the tongue to go with it… Skye, is it?"_

"_Yes, sir."_

"_You seem a bit young to be in the military… even more so without a draft being in effect. Sure you weren't expecting Hollywood?" The general snickered._

"_Yes… I am quite sure I want to be here. Isn't your place to tell me what I can and can't do…" The young Skye snapped in response._

"_Well, well… you may have talent, but you'll get nowhere if you keep acting like that… give respect to those more important than you." The general's tone got meaner._

"_Well, I think perhaps the respect should go to those more deserving in skill than those lacking in brain… like yourself." Skye gave a swift punch to the general's stomach, knocking him multiple feet back and straight to the ground. "Give respect to those more important than you, pal…"_

Skye awoke with a yawn and a beaming smile. "I love putting up with idiots… and I remember that guy so very well… then again, most people DO hate me. O'Donnell, Tigereye… why is that? I am, after all, a very likable guy." He sneered and looked back at the seismograph. "Wait… what is this?" He saw the line on the graph for the P-42 region rise incredibly high, then flatline completely. "This… this isn't a normal earthquake. Heck, I have never seen any earthquake go that high… I'm gonna check up with the Federation…"

The entire Great Fox was quiet, Skye had left and everyone else was asleep, Krystal included, who had cried herself to sleep but was somberly slumbering.

"Yo!" Skye rushes into the front door of the headquarters, fifty or so feet off where the Great Fox had been docked and scratched his head.

"Hey, Skye. What you got for us today? More vandalisms?" The fox at the front desk asked casually, slightly joking.

"Nah, somethin' else. The weirdest thing happened in sector… P-42 this morning! Look." He messed with a nearby seismograph and looked up the history until he found the spike. "There."

"Whoa… that's, like, enough energy to destroy a planet! And then some… we're going to go check it out, go and get some sleep, pal. Oh… and lay off the coffee." The fox grinned and typed away at the computer, oblivious to what was truly about to happen.

Skye ran back to the Great Fox and fell asleep again at his desk, the screen of his monitor glaring onto his drooling face, as the dark clouds began to build and loom around the atmosphere of Sauria and the rest of Lylat.


	4. Across the View

**Chapter 4: Across the View**

"Hmph. We deliver the blow to them so that they cannot attack us back… a simple feat. We launch the best thing we've got."

The sinister figure spoke, lax and carefree of his to-be possibly disastrous actions. His fur was a pure white color with black spots adorning his entire body in patches. Atop his shoulders and chest was a layer of thick silver metal, and his chest and arms were highly decorated with medals and crests strewn everywhere. His claws were refined with metal additions and had the consistency of daggers. His hair was bright silver and reflected the light nicely, flowing down past his neck. It was majestic, but all the while held a cruel air to it. He held a sneer on his face and ran a sharp claw along an old map, torn with use.

"Crenel Peak, that's where we strike. The enemy is stationed there, it should be an easy kill… we launch the bomb. I'll deliver it myself. All you need to worry about is getting it onto my ship. Our day is at hand… Venom will rue the day they chose to stand against my rule!" He pounded his fist defiantly against the wall.

His announcement was met with slightly frightened but approving cries, as the audience listened for further command.

"We attack now… ready my ship, I want to get going in five minutes." He gestured with his hand, and the audience saluted, breaking apart and started to disband as the figure left his podium.

"Who does this guy think he is…?" A smaller fox, roughly 18 and in business attire questioned. "He doesn't know what he's dealing with… this bomb is more than just a bomb… it's tampering with physics itself… beside… h-he can't..."

"Do we have a problem?" The figure tapped his foot against the ground and ran a claw up his chin, stepping up to the fox, a foot or so taller.

"Please… you can't launch that bomb! It's… I mean… you'll be killing countless people! And, and not just that! You'll destroy the… very foundation of Venom!" The fox stuttered, searching for a way to influence the ruler's mind.

"What's this mean to me? So what if Venom goes down? I don't care. I have plenty of other planets that I can occupy my time with." He spit downward and onto the fox's face, uncaring to his mysterious plea.

The smaller fox swallowed and wiped his face off, unable to force words out once again, instead grabbing onto the sinister fox's shirt. "You… you just can't!"

"How… dare you lay a hand on me?" He ran a swift hand upward, catching the smaller fox by the chin, hoisting him into the air and staring hard into his eyes. Suddenly, a female fox rushed from the audience.

"Wait…! Leave him alone! You don't understand! My family's out there! His family! He's my brother…"

The sinister fox blinked a single time and halted, waiting for his own response.

"So… you're saying I should give up my operation? Give up my control to save a family or two? Not to mention that this makes you the enemy… you're saying that I should just abandon everything I'm doing because it would hurt the two of you? Funny."

The female fox stepped back and bumped into a member of the silent audience, starting to tremble under the watchful gray eyes of the sadistic ruler.

"Y-yes… sir… please… there's no need to kill any… um… i-innocents…"

The white furred fox ruler scoffed and managed a smile, deciding to humor the girl in his own sick way. "Innocents?" He looked back into the eyes of the girl's brother, who was starting to tear and run short of breath from his suspension from the floor. "Innocents… killing innocents is nothing. Perhaps you need to be enlightened… and adjusted… I kill innocents every day. And it doesn't matter who they are… or… for what purpose they exist."

He snapped the fox's neck swiftly and threw his limp body down to the little vixen, who was rendered speechless as her eyes welled up with tears at the sight of her dead brother.

"You're next, girl… get out while you can. I'll bomb who I want… when I want… and with what I want. Do the rest of you understand…?"

The crowd was hushed and gave forth small nods among barely audible murmurs of agreement. The sinister fox beamed and walked off to his ship to await his mission. A half hour later, they arrived at their destination, the white fox lost in thought.

"There it is, sir. Shall I ready the bomb?" The troop in his cockpit asked.

"… Yes. Let's obliterate these fools."

The sinister fox flew over the mountain of Crenel Peak and stared down upon the small dots of creatures below.

"The vortex bomb… knowledge is power, and with the greatest minds of any world under my control… I can't be any more powerful. Brute force is strong, but technology is stronger… but what of those who have both? What of… myself?"

He grinned and dropped the bomb, and an instant crack in the dimensional fabric was created with a large boom. Afterward, a seemingly infinite flow of white energy blasted out, completely annihilating all signs of life below on the bleak mountainside. It was beautiful to his eyes, clearly shown as the white light reflected off them in the form of a dark and power-hungry look. He slowed down his speed to a near stop and watched, entranced by his own killing and the mesmerizing glow, much like the waving blaze of a fire.

"S-sir…? I think something's wrong…" The troop pointed to the gauges in the cockpit, the majority of which were blaring and flashing. Alarms began to sound.

"What's happening? What did you do?" He began to flick and poke at the gauges, all of which indicated incredible signs of pressure and magnetism. All at once, all forms of navigation and movements systems failed. "This… can't be possible… what could possibly have the force to…?" His half-asked question was immediately answered with a downward stare to the exploded bomb, a black and crystalloid vacuum created.

He shook his head as the ship was forced inward, beginning to cave on itself.

"This was… my own doing… technology…" He forced open the door and jumped out, being pulled harder by the vortex's mighty and otherworldly grip. His escape was narrow, as he looked back and witnessed his ship crash into the ground and cave in on itself in a small explosion, quickly cut off as the fire was sucked into the black portal.

"Guess there's no way out of this one… wherever destiny is to lead me… go on. Lead." He closed his eyes and jumped forward, into the vortex. Immediately, his body began to ache and burn as he felt wisps of fire singe his arms and eyes. He closed them tighter and started to burn worse suddenly, the feeling of speed rushing through his body in painful volumes. He felt himself grow more and more tired as the miserable experience progressed until he blacked out and his body fell slack, pulled yet still by the fields of crystalloid darkness around him.


	5. The Path of War

**Chapter 5: The Path of War**

Silence. Darkness… the fox opened his eyes and stare down at the ground. He was… alive. Somehow. He perused the landscape around him quickly. Was it possible? He was right where he was supposed to be… the portal must have dumped him out back on Venom. The landscape was barren and brown as always and the crippling acidity of the soil had killed all life around. But something was wrong…

"Of course…!" He muttered aloud. "How the heck… is this area so serene? I just bombed this place…"

With effort due to his recent trip through the dizzying portal, he got his bruised body to his feet and paced about the ground, staring at it with deep focus when he came upon a pair of dirty metallic boots.

"You… dog. What are YOU doing here on our side of the fence?" A mud-covered fox spoke to him, a knife held in his hand in a clearly intimidating manner. "I'll bet you haven't had your shots, mongrel…" He aimed to stab at the white fox but was quickly foiled. The white fox swept to the side and twisted the assailant's arm with a sickening crack as the knife dropped into the sadistic fox's other hand.

"Who are you?" He held the knife to the assailant's throat.

"Agh…! Who are YOU?" The fox held onto his shattered arm in agony.

"My name is unimportant… you won't live long enough to do anything with it at this rate. Answer!"

"Heh… all part of war, eh?"

"War…? Never you mind." He slit his throat and threw him to the ground swiftly. "War…" He walked forward and tossed the rusted knife aside, himself passing around a cliff.

The shadow of the black and brown rocks faded into light as he felt his metallic claws around the rough surface. A faint roar in the distance boiled deep into the fox's blood. He had heard it before… and it was now unmistakable. It was the cries of war, the clash of fire and laser. He yearned for the feeling of battle. He always had… and it haunted his steps every day. Nevertheless, it was a long time ago… that his instincts took over… he no longer cared for tranquility. It felt like an age ago that he wanted peace… until the day he realized that peace was pointless. Power goes to the one who wants it most, he thought. His sanguinary drives forced him onward for miles… until happened upon a clearing distraught with battle. A long stretches of fighters adorned the battlefield and their fire lit his eyes like a flame.

He reached at his side, felt a warm metal… his eyes closed and his mind faded to his lust for bloodshed as he pulled it off from his side and held it defiantly into the air, clicked on the switch, and spawned a bright blade of laser. A hypnotic red color bit through the air as he strode onto the field, starting with an immense bound. He pounced forward in a spring of forty to fifty feet, directly into the fray. He went completely silent as he was met with attacks from confused soldiers… some bearing the crest of Corneria, others Venom. He felt a small burning prod from his side.

"Who… may I ask… are you?"

Five soldiers and their own searing blades corned the belligerent white-pelted fox. He was completely cornered.

"I'm not going to ask you twice. Who are you? You are clearly not from Venom. Nor from Corneria." The figure speaking was immensely largely built, his armor thick and covering his entire body. A large assortment of medals coated his vest. His fur was hidden from his entire body, save his face and hands. It was an amber-like color matching his right eye, a powerful orange itself. His left eye was a quiet black. From his appearance, he was a tiger.

"I am… from neither. I chanced upon this area and decided to join in.

Despite the battle around them, the few aside guarding the white fox broke into a hearty laughter.

"Oh… you… do you honestly expect us to believe that?" the tiger prodded him harder and stabbed his weapon barely into the fox's arm. He, in return, did not flinch. "Clearly, you are… a spy?"

"Now it is your turn to be mistaken. If you refuse to believe me…" He spat onto one of the enemy blades. "Then I'll have to prove that I am as I speak in battle."

He did another jump followed by a flip in mid-air, the tiger's blade slicing upward past his arm. His descent happened behind the farthest back soldier whom he hashed his weapon deep into his stomach. The blood was burned and dissolved off the blade in an instant.

"Attack him!" The tiger commanded, himself diving into the battle with vengeance.

The fox spun to the side, killing another soldier flawlessly. He followed with a second parry to the side, followed by a sweeping thrust into the back of a third soldier.

"Had enough?" He gestured toyingly to a third soldier, who slowly began to back away into the fray of the war. "Just you and I, general."

The tiger swung crushing blows toward him, but were all slighted with uninterested and graceful dodges.

"You…" the tiger watched him and held his weapon in guard. "If you are from neither side… then why do you persist to fight us?"

"Simple enough. You do not trust me, thus I have no reason to not fight. Or… a reason to fight." He feinted a few blows and kept his cold eyes locked onto the stance of the general. He made a gesture of swinging his blade around and pointing it at his adversary. "If you really hold that position so well, prove it. Or are you truly undeserving to be in this war? To have soldiers at your command? Come." He gestured again with a single swing and the battle resumed.

Every blow was powerful, but the fox denied his enemy any chance of victory. Every sidestep or jump was with blinding speed, and the fox did not plan to allow the tiger a shot at him. He finally went to offense and swung at his enemy's arm maliciously. He was blocked and thrown back into the air by a massively powerful counter to his blade.

"Ah… so that's your skill, is it? You're powerful… but how does that help you if you're slow?" He mocked, jumping about to the tiger's side and feinting more shots that would have clearly been fatally placed. "Pathetic, like I said… but you have talent for swordplay, I give you that."

The tiger's face had gone red from anger and humiliation; he threw more crushing blows and felt a surge of pain rush through his leg. The fox sat, crouching, his blade cleanly placed through his ankle.

"Heh. You can always surrender." He mocked again.

"I…" The general winced hard and stumbled over his words. "I would never… concede this battle. I would not allow you the honor of victory."

The fox, seemingly puny in comparison of size, laughed and held the tip of his sword to the back of the tiger's head.

"How about… you give me your name and the victory of this battle, and I let you live? Seems fair enough, eh?"

The tiger closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, furious. "Fine. I am General Tigereye of the Cornerian army. May I ask your name?

"Ah, bold, I like that. Asking the name of the one who could kill you before you notice… very humorous indeed."

The battle suddenly died down and was raised up into cries of victory.

"General! General! The battle is over! The Venomians have been defeate-" He stared at the wounded leader at a loss for words. "What… what… happened…?"

"We all lose battles, General." The cold voice of the white fox sounded on the field once more. "Unfortunately, this one you will end up regretting for the longest time… you see… you've beaten the Venomians… and I've defeated you. And unless anyone wishes to object and face the death of Mr. Tigereye here… you are now under my command."

"Not at all…" Tigereye spoke. "We're under the control of the Cornerian army."

"Well… too bad for them. Because you're under the command of myself now… and if anyone wishes to object, I'll be sure to think of an extremely painful punishment for them to face."

"You…!" Tigereye clenched his teeth once more.

"Heh… you can call me Skye." His snarling grin grew ever darker. "Skye Abison."


	6. A Prelude

**Chapter 6: A Prelude**

Back at the Great Fox, nightly life continued as expected. Krystal sat, wiping her red eyes and staring out into space… quite literally. She ran her claw gently up the glass of window with a small and painful screech.

"Why do these things happen…? Why can't life just work out for me?"

Skye entered from behind and watched her for a few seconds, silent and analytical.

"What ails ya, sunflower?"

"Wha-… Skye?" Krystal sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes again. "Well… surely you know by now…"

"Yeah. I do. T'is true. But you can't let it get to you."

"What?" She glared angrily at him and clenched her fist rather painfully, her claws almost digging into her palms. "How can you expect me to just forget all of that?"

Skye became silent for about a minute, calmly staring at her with his fist supporting his chin.

"You know… stress is bad for your health. That is why I am so healthy, you see. That's my mantra of sorts. So try to calm down… anyways… let's look at it this way… Fox was unfaithful, yes… but that does not mean that you have anything to do with it, really. Everyone is met with temptations…" He closed his eyes and scratched his hand. "… And we sometimes overcome them. Sometimes we don't. It's just nature. But what's important is that… it's all in the past. My past hasn't been the most wonderful experience, either. But… I overcame it. You can overcome this, too. No use dwelling over what you can't change."

"But… I can change this! I could get Fox back if I wanted to…" She stared at the floor and bit down on her lip slightly.

Skye snickered and closed his eyes again, wagging his finger.

"You miss the point. You could have him back… but would you want to? It's in the past now. And you still have a future. There are plenty of fish in the sea… no need to restrict yourself to this one pond. Swim free!" He snickered to himself and smiled at her. "So. What do you say?"

"Yeah… I guess you're right… I'm not sure if I'll ever get over it… or see Fox the same way, but…" She smiled as well. "I can try."

"Attagirl. You get on that, I have work to do." He left abruptly and skipped off to his normal workroom, leaving Krystal speechless.

"… He's wise, but… none too understandable." She sighed and wiped the last of her tears away, retreating to her room as well.

The night was quiet throughout the headquarters… the fury had passed and everyone was finally at peace, save Fara. She lay in her bed, Fox beside her and thought quietly. She was an angry vixen, but… she was angry at herself more than anything else. What had she done? She had no choice now. She had to confess her feelings… and hope that he understood and forgave.

"Fox… Fox." Fara gently shook Fox's side. "You awake?"

"Erm… mrm… I am now. What is it, Fara…?"

"I…" She choked up a little. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everything."

"What?" He shook his head and sat up. "What are you talking about?"

Her eyes were small and she was staring downward, unable to have eye contact with Fox.

"I'm just… s-so sorry for what I did. I was…" She swallowed hard and held back her tears.

"You were…?"

"I was scared! I was so scared… I couldn't stop thinking about you, Fox… the whole time you were gone, I was going over it in my head… I was thinking about what I did wrong… how I could have changed… how I could have kept you… i-is that wrong?" She wrapped her arms around his right arm and clung to him lovingly. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to be fierce like… I was."

"I… don't… no. I don't think so… it may be a little odd, but… that shows you loved me, I guess. You know… you've… matured since then."

"Huh?" She looked upward at him.

"You have… the old Fara wouldn't been able to admit that. Wouldn't have been able to apologize… I forgive you." He smiled and kissed her forehead sensitively.

"You…" She smiled and closed her eyes. "Th-thank you… Fox. Thank you… but… Krystal…"

"Hm?" He ran his hand down her back and watched her.

"I'm not sure if Krystal will approve of what I did… or if she'll let me talk to her… or if she'll ever forgive me…"

"Well… at least tell her you're sorry. She might not give you the best reaction… but it would be the right thing to do anyway."

"… I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to forgive myself for this… I'll try harder from now on. I'll try harder to keep control of myself… for the both of us."

"Fara… I love you. I know it seems hard to believe… or to accept… but I do. You're awfully competitive sometimes and you tend to be rude when you disagree with something… but I know how soft-hearted you are. Tomorrow?"

"Yeah… I'll tell her tomorrow. I can only hope she'll understand… good night, Fox."

"Good night, Fara…" He snuggled against her and closed his eyes.

"Hey, guys." Skye walked along the hallway and met with the rest of the team. "How's it goin'?"

"Can't complain." Falco stretched. "Why the middle of the night."

"Swell… and… what he said." Slippy smirked.

"First order of the day, no one says 'Swell' anymore. Second, I have important info to share." Skye had them follow him back to his workroom. "These…" He held up a folder. "Is what we got for today. I'll make it brief. Huge power spike. And when I say huge… I mean massive. This is very unnatural; as I'm sure you may have guessed."

"Wowsers…" Slippy skimmed over the folder. "Unnatural indeed… that's enough to-"

"Wipe out a planet… pretty sweet. Think a power plant exploded?" Falco cracked his neck loudly.

"Nah. Can't be. Even a huge power plant wouldn't be able to do that. This thing was, like… core. In the core. Like a supernova. But weaker. Whatever it is, all that matters is that we have a job! We're gonna investigate this thing tomorrow and figure out what caused it."

"And how… if at all… does that differ from any of the other pointless jobs that we do daily?" Falco watched him disdainfully.

"'Cause something of this magnitude is generally considered not possible. And they called on us for it. So we're in business. That's it. Good night, all. Dismissed. See you tomorrow; sleep well, yadda, yadda, yadda." He nodded quickly and darted away as usual.

The night was sound and peaceful, but a hidden tension stirred the air. Far away… there was movement. And plotting. Dark eyes glowed in the night, and as the Star Fox team sat peacefully… both their lives and the lives of the galaxy lay in peril. A dark mind's intentions were great… and though the team had had its problems before… both long ago and recently… soon they would be facing an enemy greater than them all.

The worlds rested on their shoulders… they had no room for mistakes. And at the same point… as much of a battle stirred inside them all.

"Why… I…" Skye lay half-asleep, talking to himself. "Why…? Was it… no… but… perhaps I had good reason… nng… I can't remember... not well, at least…" He struggled with his thoughts until his usual sleep befell him.

"C-can I… do this? And for this reason… for being strong as I am… I hold such weakness."

"Well… that's not your only reason, is it? I understand that you have others…"

"Just one. And selfish they both are… I can't do this."

"I'm not gonna make you… there isn't much advantage for me to be in this anyway. Whatever makes you happy, pal."

"Happy… I just want to be happy… we all do. What's the cost of it, though?"

"Eh? Cost?"

"All of this… I… I'm gonna do it. And I'm gonna succeed. And… I will finally… I'll try my best to-"

His alarm blared and he spun to the side, smacking his head against the end table.

"Ooargh… 6 AM Earth time. Mission start time... and possibly time to take some painkillers… ack." He rubbed his head and got to his feet.


	7. A Diversion

**Chapter 7: A Diversion**

"And we have skies overcast in the Cornerian atmosphere, and along with the stormy sky comes bad news, folks. In the recent planetary news, the well-known Ando Ageanesis had his mechanical arm ripped off by a crazy fan who questioned 'Aren't you the guy who melted my arm off?'. The fan was recently arrested and Ando is currently in stable con-"

Skye uncouthly shoved the alarm off the end table and watched it smash against the ground, completely uninterested.

"Whoops. Guess I'll have Slippy fix that. Well, to work, away!"

He grinned and struck a heroic pose before putting on a bathrobe and dashing off to the HQ hangar to ready his arwing. A smaller male fox of about the age of 16 watched him bizarrely, clearly a new recruit.

"Hello, citizen!" Skye grinned eerily with his statement and finished his preparations. "Good to see you. But I must go, really." Skye, as predicted, dashed again out into the halls of the bedrooms. A new day for Skye had come and he was in another bizarre mood.

"C'mon, c'mon, guys! We're gonna be late! If we don't hurry up! HURRY UP!" Skye screamed at the top of his lungs. Falco tapped him in the shoulder and flicked him in the back of his head from behind, angrily scratching his forehead with his other hand.

"Uh… hey… Skye… would you mind if you would keep it the heck down? Some of us aren't quite awake. Namely everyone except me, huh?"

"I would guess so, but you'd think that my team would be a bit more disciplined…" The overly energetic Skye shook his head mock sadly with a 'Tsk, tsk, tsk' noise and poked Falco in the forehead. "That's what I like about you, recruit! You have the guts! You have the stuff it takes!"

Falco simply responded with a quick "Shh" and a slightly painful kick to Skye's left side, watching him wince.

"Well, if you're so intent on us going, then let's go. I'll get Slippy. Trust me, you don't wanna have to go in there and pry him away from his stuffed animals. It's painful to see. And not 'cause you pity him, trust me on that."

"Yeah…" Skye trailed off. "You get… on that. I'm gonna go make sure… everything's… working." He skipped off, exuding his odd disposition and climbed into his arwing, blasting the arwing speakers at the first radio station on the dial. Meanwhile, Fox peeked out from his room and watched him exit the hall, half-awake.

"Weird… hard to believe he's our leader." He snickered, half-sincere.

"Well…" Fara watched over his shoulder. "I guess he's earned it. He's had to do a lot of hard work to get there, I bet. I'm sure he deserves to be a weird guy from time to time." She smiled.

"Time to…? He's like that all of the time, Far."

"True. True." She jumped off the bed and got dressed quickly, for fear of further (and notably loud) reprimand from her leader.

"Nng…" Krystal rolled to the side and hit the floor with a thump, holding the side of her head. "What a night…"

"Morning to ya, sunflower!" A familiar voice sounded quite loudly through her entire room from a speaker in the wall, skipping her heart a beat and making her jump, almost to the height of hitting the ceiling.

"Sk- Skye? What the heck? How'd you get that hooked up? When?" She badgered. "Ugh…"

"Turns out it was there all along. I just never knew it was there! Nor did I know that I can use it… wait for it… from my arwing. Oh yeah. Casual conversation from long distances. Hi-tech stuff." He muted his music and tapped his foot on the hard flooring of his cockpit, his tail swishing against the back of his seat.

"Ugh…" she shook her head and spent a few minutes to get dressed in a comfortable blue flight suit, the last one out to the arwings.

"Well, see you in a minute, sunflower. Skye out-"

"How do you stay so energetic?" She interrupted with a polite but serious tone, staring at the small intercom box in the wall with an eyebrow pointed upward. "What makes you like that? What makes you so immune to the haphazard problems of life?"

He snickered and turned up the music slightly. "Well, you just get used to it. And you learn to ignore. That's your problem, Krys, you gotta learn to roll with the punches. Just relax. It's another mission, the sun is shining, and it's a new day ahead of us."

"We're in the middle of space, Skye, the sun is always shi-"

"Tch. Realist."

He cut her off and snickered again, his music on full blast a second time, waiting a moment to see her standing outside. He grinned largely and waved to her, his ear twitching eagerly. His hand slid up the side of the window and found the button the pull it down.

"C'mon, Krys! We're all waitin' on you! You want money, right? Buy the team a hot tub or something? Yeah, I'd like that, too. Not gonna happen, though. Way too much crap to deal with as of now. But c'mon anyway! We'll get a new Great Fox, we'll-"

It was her turn to ignore him, and she avidly did so with a forceful shut of his window on the way to her newly polished ship. She climbed in and sat on her tail for a moment, yanking it out with small unkind utterances in dino language. Another habit she'd yet to lose.

"Well, Skye?" She tinkered with her intercom until she had the volume and frequency set perfectly. "For a guy who talks a lot, I don't see a lot of flying…" She tilted her head a bit to the side and waited for his rash response.

"Hmph. You just wait, Miss Sunny, I'll show you a little bit about flying. Just keep your eye on me, quite assuming you don't need all your attention to avoid crashing into Slippy."

"Hmph back it you, fancy pants."

The team listened to the grudge-like competition of the arrogant fox and the azure vixen as they boosted off into space.

"G-diffusers are go. And… blah, blah, blah, everything else. You guys ready?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's get on with it." Falco watched out the window.

"Sure am, Skye. Ready to teach you your tail from a hole in the ground. You appear to continue to have trouble with that one-"

"Children!" Peppy interrupted, back at the headquarters. "Please! You make me sound like an old geezer… though I'm sure I make a reputable one as is. Let's stop the bickering and-"

"Get to the flying…" Skye grinned once more with his comment and flew his ship next to Krystal's and as close as he could until he could tell she was nervous. Her hands were locked on the controls and she started to shake a bit with the view of Skye's wing barely in front of hers. If he were to brake, or her to speed up, he could easily take it off. As reckless as it may have been for Skye to do as leader, he still knew his place and she knew that it was all a test. Skye held his position as commander with high regard and was quite the excellent pilot, though not well known.

"Okay, guys." Skye nodded and tapping some keys into his onboard computer. "Coordinates are in. But just for a little fun, you're not going to have the luxury of autopilot. Stay sharp, boys. And irritating belligerent female. You, too."

"Hmph."

Slowly, they drifted around, Skye challenging Krystal and Krystal challenging Skye, as they all admired the never-changing beauty of silent space. It was most evident, of course, with Skye. He was very lax and limp, staring at the distant stars and at Krystal's ship, watching to see if she had taken any sudden movements or sneak attacks. But, of course, all was peaceful and she was too busy doing the same… watching him for any tricks. He stretched slightly and stiffened his tail, focusing now on the odd feeling of the space around him. It was odd… the arwing had its own perfect personal environment, but sometimes he felt the oddest feeling out in the black reaches of space. He would look out the window and look down, realizing that there was little between him but a single layer of metal. It made him feel weak, it made him feel woozy from time to time… he'd been in space countless times, but had still never quite gotten over it. He began to nod off, his caffeine powered biorhythm getting the best of him once more…

"Hey… Skye. Something the matter?"

"Nah. Just not feeling too well today… stomach… mind."

"Mind? What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Sometimes… I look into space and I feel empty. Lonely-like… what is it?"

"Hmm… space can make you feel lonely, I know what you mean. Maybe you just need a girl. A nice vixen."

"You think? Possible, but… me? A girl?"

"Ha. I see where you're comin' from. I know you don't seem like the type, but I don't think you'd do TOO badly."

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the ribbin'. Come on. Let's go. We're gonna miss the meeting."

He opened his eyes again to perfectly awaken with a large brown obstruction in his way, a small meteorite. In a split moment, his reflexes kicked in before his hands could and his eyes shot open, alert.

"Aah! What the heck?" He swerved to the side and back to the center, his stomach beginning to feel worse.

"Skye? You okay? What happened?" Krystal sighed worriedly. "For a commander, you sure are reckless."

"But honest. Reckless, but honest." He shook his head and rubbed his left temple. "I fell asleep."

"You fell asleep in the middle of flying through an asteroid field?" Fox exclaimed with confusion. "Geez… how did you get to be our leader again?"

"I…" He looked down. "I- hey! What's goin' on?" He clicked his on-board screen and was greeted with a message, happy to change the subject.

"Message received. Now displaying."

Skye read through it quickly and sighed yet again. "We got trouble. Turns out that we've been hit with another unexpected twist, team. Small outpost in Titania was attacked by bandits. Tough guys, I've had run-ins with them before. Get your weapons ready, we're gonna have to play 'Peacekeepers' for the time being. At least it means more pay, hm?"

The rest of the team growled under their breath and turned off to the side, heading roughly southeast from their destination and toward the dry grasp of Titania. And more specifically… The Kyouro Sand Tiger Gang, known not only for their brutality, but for their large size. Another day in peril, but another chance as well. A chance to earn back the lost vitality of the Star Fox team, diminished by war, much as Titania was diminished by heat and time.

"Keep your wits about you guys, we're almost there. And knowing them, I'm sure they have at least a few traps in wait."

"Skye, why do you know these guys?" Krystal leaned forward and cracked her neck.

"Well… you could say we've known each other in the past..." He shrugged and went silent, staring at his computer screen.


	8. Kino Kyouro

**Chapter 8: Kino Kyouro**

"Well, well, well…" Skye smirked and accelerated into Titania's atmosphere slowly, tiny flames crisping off of his arwing's shield. "This'll be some reunion… the notorious Kyouro… we've had a few 'Meetings' before, you know."

"Meetings?" Krystal sighed. "By that I assume…? Hmm… you tend to get in a lot of fights, don't you?"

"Where did you get that idea?" Skye smirked and increased his speed as she followed with the rest of the team. "You don't mean… you and I, do you? Now, now, we aren't fighting, we're… 'Bickering'. They're different, you know."

Downward they spiraled in formation, Skye's claws scratched at the back of his head, his eyes closed. His mind was racing, though his body was calm.

"Hmm… guys?" He ran his fingers through his hair and swallowed a bit, finally nervous. "I guess this is our first mission involving… violence. Just be careful, okay? After all, you're my team, and…" He swallowed again and coughed. "And if you screw up, I'll kill you all."

"Ugh…" Krystal groaned and accelerated more, next to Skye so she could glance at him in her view. "For a second, I thought that was 'The Real Skye', but… you always tend to make a joke at the end."

"Aw… I can't make jokes?" He grinned. "And so you know, I'm hoping that THAT isn't 'The Real Krystal', hm? Cheer up… or I'll make you cheer up." He put on the sternest look possible and went to max speed, jetting away in a blaze toward Titania.

"So… we get to shoot some guys down?" Falco stretched and cracked his back. "Been waitin' all month for a nice dogfight. A month at least."

"Heh, heh… then I guess you'll have to keep waiting, pal. They're all over the outpost… we can't risk aerial attacks with the villages being used as cover, we'd end up killing too many unnecessary people. We're gonna have to take it to the ground, blasters and all."

"Ah… I guess that explains your little emotional warning." Falco smiled contently and landed in the dead center of the desert, followed by Skye.

"Hm. Have fun, Falco. Just remember… while emotional, death threats are death threats. Star Fox team, away!"

With a groan of discontent, they followed in pursuit of the town's assailants.

The team rushed across the burning desert sands and stopped to stare in disbelief at the flaming town. For a mile around, the outpost was being consumed with a glittering and slowly spreading flame, slowly.

"Well, well, well… they work fast." Skye spat into the fire

"This is… horrible…" Fara hung her head and stepped back from the heat, her eyes beginning to water from it.

"… Welcome to the job… sorry to say. There's no time, we have to get the job done. We're gonna have to get in there and rescue who we can, then catch the Tigers. Are you up to it, team?"

"I… guess. It hurts to watch it all, but…" Fara wiped her eyes. "I can do it, I can do it."

"All… part of the job. Let's just get it over with. Lucky for us, it looks like the fire's only in here… we don't have any time to put it out, we have to go…" Krystal dashed off first, past the flames, and into the heart of the damage as the rest looked on and slowly began to follow.

"Krys… wait… grr…" Skye ran off after her with a snarl. "No one beats me to the punch, not even you."

The other side of the outpost was in just as much chaos, though not yet in flames. The gang sulked about, searching the huts and buildings. Two rats slinked around, watching and searching for anything of value.

"What is this, boss? Ain't nothing of value in 'ere. All I can find is food and… change. Coins. Coins all over the place!"

"Not even valuable coins, boss. Nearly worthless, this currency and all. And the darn sand… why'd we come here again? It's not even close to worth it, boss! Now that we've gotten all of this nothing, we've got the Cornerians on our tails, again…"

"Ah, shuddap, you stupid goon." The leader crossed his arms and growled with his gruff voice. "Not like we came here for this crap anyways. We're huntin' for bigger game. There's a load of treasure just out there waitin' for us, and we'll square off with whoever tries to stop us, aye?" The brash-talking desert fox scratched at the sandy overgrown fur on his chin and growled once more, coughing and taking a swig from the jug at his side. His entire body was covered in stiff yellow-orange fur and clotted together with sand.

"Yeah, about that, boss… ya never really told us what this 'Supposed treasure' was. Do you really distrust us that much?"

"Heh." He coughed again and spat with a small gag. "Stupid sand. Anyways… you really think you fellas deserve to know? I mean… you're a bunch of desert rats." He kicked the first goon's slim tail with a snicker. "Literally. Not to be stereotypical, folks, but… rats aren't usually the most trustworthy. That's why I got two blades. One for each side, and one for each of ya. Now… with that dainty little detail in mind, what were you guys askin' about again?"

The two looked at each other nervously and put on their best fake smiles. "Nothin', sir. Let's just go do whatever… we were doing."

"Attaboys! C'mon, let's burn the rest of these huts down and dig once they're totaled." He snickered and spit out some of his drink through his lit match and watched pleasantly as it burst into a stream of flame and set the hut ablaze like a snaking chain of fire. "C'mon, boys. It's treasure time!"

The team marched through a sweltering hollow between the village, looking down in awe at the charred remains of buildings… and occasionally people. The sun was fixed in the sky, haunting over the group as they pressed on, silent. Skye shook sand out of his ears and scratched about his head, his eyes nearly closed to ward off the biting sandstorm from his eyes. Krystal also winced at the sand as it stung with every touch on her.

"Can… we take a break soon?" She spit angrily as sand began to clot up in her mouth.

"No… 'fraid not. I know it's tough, but we have to get it over with. Sooner the better…" He watched her occasionally, noting her expression, her clenched teeth and fists being pounded upon by tiny sand bits constantly… he wished he could do something, but he knew it wasn't his place. He was the leader, and that made the mission top priority. Falco winced as well, muttering under his breath, Fox and Fara clung together and were wary of Krystal's eyes should they wander over in their direction, Slippy kept quiet.

"Fox…" Fara whispered and nudged him in the side. "Fox… when should I do it?"

"Do… oh… yeah… not now. We're in the middle of the mission, not the best time. She's probably irritable, too." He snickered a little and got in front of her like a shield, so that the sand wouldn't touch her. "But later, after the mission, yeah."

"What's so funny?" Krystal looked back and spit a few pieces of coarse sand out. Her eyes were cold, Skye noticed too. They lacked the beautiful charm that made her so appealing to Fox once. He shivered a little and tried his best to look away while keeping eye contact with her. Her eyes were angry and red from the sand, but at the same time, sad. She never quite got over what had happened… though she took Skye's advice and tried to forget it. It wasn't the loss of Fox that angered her… nor Fara's self-centered passions… but she feared betrayal above all. She felt safe with Fox, but he still left her… neither of them understood how the other felt. But there was no chance to go back.

"Look! In the distance!" Fox broke off the gaze and pointed ahead to the group of three. "Maybe they're some Titanians?"

"Fat chance." Skye scoffed and walked ahead while the others stopped sharply. "Those are some gang members. And not just some gang members…" He shook his head and snapped his fingers with a surprisingly loud crack, shooting his hand to his side and pulling out his blaster.

"Wh-wha…?" A rat spun around and caught two shots in the chest, as did the other with one, both falling to the ground with cries of pain.

"So, good weather, huh?" Skye smiled. "Like a burning river of sandy pain."

"Heh… heh, heh, heh… you're quick. Got here fast… never would have thought they'd send you, of all people." The leader fox turned about with a blaster of his own aimed forward. "Thought they'd sent someone with training… ability. Certainly not you."

"Where are all the Titanians?" Krystal stepped forward with her own blaster out.

"My, my, my… where do I recognize you…?"

"Answer the question." She snapped with a quick response.

"Fine… they're not all dead, I'm sure you've noticed. They fled into the desert when the huts started going down. Wasn't worth our time to kill 'em, you see. The only ones that died were the morons who couldn't get away from the fire, though a select few morons, and those who tried to shoot back. I'm here to keep the peace, not-"

Skye shot a blast past his ear with the same pleased grin and stepped forward a few more steps. "Not too good with quick actions, I see. You haven't changed since the last time I captured you. How'd you get out anyways?"

"Escaped, of course. What would you expect of me?" He cackled with a hacking cough and stepped forward to meet Skye face to face.

"Shouldn't we do something…?" Fara tugged at Fox's arm. "Someone's gonna end up getting hurt at this rate…"

"Too late for that, little girl." The desert fox snarled and twirled his blaster in the air. "Now it's just a matter of time."

"Kino… why do you do these things?" Skye watched the fox's hands intently.

"Eh, got nothin' better to do. Nothin' better than to go out and snag some treasure, you know?"

"Um… no." Skye shot the second rat again. "Sorry, had to make it even."

"You know, you've got some nerve…" Kino kicked sand into Skye's face and shook his hair free of sand. "Some nerve comin' over here to start trouble like this. And some nerve to shoot my men like that. I know it's on stun, but… still hurts, eh? I've done nothin' too wrong… the huts, just think of that as… industrial expansion… the dead, think of 'em as self defense… and the treasure, think of it as MINE. That's all I came for, officer… now can I get back to work?" He laughed heartedly and caught a small click in the chest.

"Say cheese." Skye kicked sand back at Kino and pressed the tiny machine he stuck to Kino a second time, watching bolts fly off of Kino's skin and his hair stand on end as he toppled to the ground, twitching. "Having fun yet?"

"G-g-gah! You cheap punk! Can't you ever play fair?" He staggered to his feet and stared hopelessly at the Star Fox team, all of whom had their weapons at the ready. "Ah… bah. I'm toast. Why does this always gotta happen to me?"

"Because… you're never prepared." Skye grinned and kicked him in the face. "Now stay down!" He gloomily glared at Kino and put his foot to his throat. "Now… do you surrender?"

Kino coughed and hacked painfully. "You… you know I can't breathe well…! You're choking me…" He hacked harder until his eyes watered.

"Not that you deserve it, but… sorry." He lifted his foot a bit and wiped sand from his eyes for a moment. "Oh… and you guys can put the guns down now. No need… he's just a bit of scum that needs occasional dealing with."

"Yeah, yeah…" Kino coughed some more and rubbed his throat. "About that… you see… attack."

"What?" Skye make a soft and deep groan of irritation as roughly ten other rats surfaced from behind with low powered machine guns of their own, snarling and snickering to themselves.

"We got 'em, boss. Leave it to us."

"So… Mr. Abison… do you concede this match to me, or risk the death of your various teammates?" Kino sat up and crossed his legs.

"You wouldn't… not over a stupid game. As much of a brash idiot you are, you wouldn't do that… I know you wouldn't."

"Oh…? Skye, Skye, Skye… it is exactly those brash tendencies that make me the fox I am today." He swished his hand and his lackeys raised their weapons, one firing a warning shot. "Shall we chance another shot, possibly one more accurate, Sir Abison?"

"No, no, no, you-" He twitched and yelped suddenly along with Krystal, who had received a burn mark on her shoulder from a second shot. "H-hey!"

"Heh. Told ya you underestimated me. Now give up the match. Now! Or I'll give the girl too many burns to count!"

Krystal gripped her shoulder painfully and teared up slightly, shaking her head. Skye had no choice… he hated it, but he was cornered.

"Fine, fine. I give up. Happy enough? Now get lost, Kino…"

"Hm. Now what is the score? 7-1? 8-1?"

"What the heck is going on?" Fara surprised herself with her volume and stumbled around on her feet in the sand. "What are you two talking about?

"Um… er…" Skye shuffled his feet. "Meet Kino. Um… we're obtained a bit of a rivalry from our numerous encounters…"

"He's a MURDERER!" Fara screeched angrily and run up to Kino. "You'll get what's comin' to ya, pal. Just you wait."

"Yeah, I bet, girl…" Kino coughed once more.

"Say… Kino…" Skye smiled a bit.

Kino watched over at him and hacked, wincing. "What is it this time?"

"Ha, ha…" Skye looked down as Kino looked up and their eyes met at Skye's arm… positioned at Kino's forehead, blaster and all.

"Oh… muffins. Whaddya you want, name your terms…" Kino sulked about, internally refusing the idea that he fell for nearly his own idea.

"You let us go… and come with us back… and I'll let you keep that point. Hm?" He clicked a gadget on his side and the Great Fox came down over the desert sand.

"Oh, please…" Fara sighed heavily. "You honestly think that he'd give himself up for a stupid gam-"

"Sweet deal!" Kino walked around Skye and headed straight for his ship. "I'll find the treasure later… I got plenty o' time, after all."

A long silence began as everyone stared around at the rest of the group and the sandstorm began to subside.

"That… you've got to be kidding me…" Krystal wiped her eyes of tears again and walked back. "Bunch of freaks."

"Hey! You're not going anywhere with that burn on you until I've taken a look at it…" Skye slid up next to her and examined her shoulder.

"I'll…" She looked down a bit and shuffled her feet with another sigh. "I'll be fine… sheesh. I can take care of myself, you know!"

"Yeah. But I can still watch out for you."

"Fine… if you must."

"If I must. You look fine for now, but I have some medicine for that back in the ship… remind me when we get there." He smiled and ran off ahead and to Kino, who was leaning on the ship.

"Hey, Skye! How's it goin'?"

"How's it- Kino… this is bad even for you! This isn't some stupid heist… I'm not gonna help bail you out this time! You killed some people! Other people! As in… 'Living' people! That's a major crime… not the normal crap you're usually in for!"

"Hey… at least I'm not drunk this time. Hehe…" He cackled again with a cough. "Sorry for the scare in advance… I never killed anyone. I set the huts on fire, yeah, but I honestly don't know what happened to those few burnt bodies you saw layin' around… those aren't mine. I promise. And you know that I always keep promises… no matter how much of a trust-unworthy goon I may be! Scout's honor."

Skye gave a final long sigh and headed into his arwing. "We'll talk later… once we've gotten this all sorted out. You'll fly the GF, of course." He got into his arwing and gave another sigh. Another long day defeated, though it was a bit of an anticlimax in the rest of the team's eyes. But something made it different for him… whether it was the encounter with Krystal and the possible loss of her, nay any of the team… or just the reunion with Kino, his heart was still pounding. He clutched his chest with his hand, feeling his pulse with his palm and twitched hard as a crack came from the panel of buttons in front of him.

"Skye…? Yo… hello…? Skye! Come in!"

"Ah… good to see you remember how to work the intercom." He turned the intercom to send and spoke. "What is it now, Kino?"

"Hey, just felt like sayin' hi. Thanks again… means a lot. So…" He grinned, though Skye couldn't see it. "About her…"

"No, Kino. Answer's no."

"Aw, c'mon! Honestly… you know that-"

"No is no… and it remains no, Ki."

"Fine, fine… but besides her… find yourself a vixen yet?"

"No. Once again. Do you get that word? No."

"Bah… boring and stuffy, as always…"

"Wait… stuffy? Since when am I stuffy?" Skye narrowed his eyes and talked loudly.

Kino turned his intercom off and listened to Skye shout at him before Skye finally gave up.

"Well, a new adventure begins, Skye." He took a swig of his drink again and lifted the Great Fox from the ground. "Good to know you've still kept your charm over the years, good buddy. Cheers." Kino laughed again.


	9. A Story Begins

**Chapter 9: A Story Begins**

"Nng…" Skye felt the same weakness as before grip him, but he managed to stay awake. "How much farther until our destination? I… I'm not feeling perfectly peachy today."

"Ha. Like I said, you're getting all stuffy. It's funny." Kino chuckled.

"I told you, I'm not- …" Skye got quiet again and watched the stars out of the window, still weak. "… Whatever."

"What's the matter, Skye?" Slippy decided to pop into the conversation for once, normally very quiet.

"No idea. Happens to me when I go flying sometimes. Well… not really… but…" He trailed off.

"I'm sure they have pills for that." Slippy laughed with a snort whilst Skye remained silent. Slippy's laugh slowly faded into an unsure sigh.

Skye shook his head, somewhat with weakness, somewhat with an unsure feeling. He felt lonely… when Kino was around, he felt lonely. Kino had been his friend for a long time, but he always jarred him with questions about his "Marital status". Old memories… Skye never was one to talk about his past, nor like it. His past was not quite full of angry memories as much as… regrets. He tried for a moment to remember it despite his lack of courage to do so, but got nothing. He wanted to have his past to refer to once in a while… as angering as it tended to be. He couldn't remember it… though he knew it had to be important. He shook his head again, so many thoughts rushing through his mind, it started to hurt. Did he deserve this all? So many things he didn't understand… in time. He would know in time. He swallowed hard and felt his heart pounding. Something was wrong… he could feel it. Something powerfully wrong was happening, about to happen. Another regret… was about to be made. He felt it. Something worse… worse than anything he'd ever felt, ever gone through… he couldn't focus.

"Skye? Are you sure you're okay?" Slippy inquired again. "You look awfully out of it. Do we need to make a stop along the way?"

"I'll be fine!" He snarled a bit and clutched his chest. "I can take care of myself!"

Krystal faced toward his ship with a surprised frown, her mouth just barely agape. "I understand you can, but I think Slippy's right… you seem sick."

Skye shook his head, unable to fight off the dizziness. "Yeah… maybe…" He trailed off and thought for a moment, reaching a decision. "He is, he is. Let's stop nearby. Maybe get something to eat."

"Yeah, you'll get over it!" Slippy laughed with a snort again. "I guess you're the one who needs to cheer up now, not Krystal."

"W-wha- you…" He smiled a little. "I guess you have been listening all this time, ya little squirt. C'mon, we can take a quick rest at Salaris's moon. They have a few rest stops there. Everyone okay with that?" He pulled his hands off the controls and shook them vigorously. "Sorry to be such a burden."

"Nah, not at all! You're our leader, after all! We need you in top shape, right?" Slippy grinned widely. "Plus, I can always go for some food!"

"Yeah… we're going to get paid all the same, aren't we? I think they'll let us take a break from time to time." Krystal finally relaxed and closed her eyes with a slow yawn. "By the by… why's this little mundane job going to pay more than all of the other mundane jobs? Seems about as simple."

"Heh." Skye wiped his moist brow. "It's all about psychology… they think they're in more danger than they are, and you get rewarded about twice as much. Like… witch hunting."

"Think we'll find our witch?" Falco interrupted.

"Well, with Skye here, I find that rather doubtful." Kino coughed. "Hey! We're in range of Salaris now. Who votes we all shut up until we get there?" He remarked with a hint of irritation in his voice. "I'm not one for chatter."

"Lies. All of it lies, people." Skye joked, barely able to keep himself awake. "But he has a point. Get ready for docking, and… well… hopefully you know the rest. Land… unh..." He shook his head again and remained silent for the rest of the journey.

Skye's head twisted and spun inside his mind, the world around him a painful blur. Sweat trickled in drops down the side of his head and he clutched the sides of his head, his forefingers crushing his temples. It was getting worse… quickly. He gasped with sharp breaths as the planet came into view and drifted closer, hiding his face so that the other team members wouldn't see him in pain. Salaris was a rather small planet with an even smaller moon nearby it. The moon was very dusty, long ago plated with metal to make the area maneuverable. The landscape covering the entire moon was like a gray quicksand, the dust ground collapsing with even the slightest touch. Without the metal, the moon would clearly be extremely dangerous. The actual planet of Salaris itself was very different, a completely barren land, hiding a vast plot of clandestine caverns that stretched on for miles under the crust of the cool planet. Skye felt slightly pleased staring upward into the sky as he landed… partially with the bliss of losing the throbbing dizziness, partially with the aurora-like view in the distance of Salaris. Like another world… he had been here a few times before and had always admired the sky.

Upon landing, he nearly flew himself out of his arwing, gasping on his hands and knees. It wasn't long before the entire team was at his side.

"Skye? What's wrong?" Krystal held her hand to his shoulder and shook him gently.

"N-nothing. Stop shaking me!" He coughed a single time and climbed to his feet, shaking his head. "I told you I can take care of myself. So I get a bit… airsick. I'll be fine…" He walked forward into a dark building, clearly woozy.

"Eh… he's not usually like that, though. I mean… he has some issues, but… that's not like him." Kino rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "We should keep an eye on him… something's up. But don't let him know." He smiled a little and coughed, as he often did. "He'll kill me if he finds out."

The rest of the team laughed a little, as secretly worried as he was, and followed silently.

"So… what's on the menu?" Fara glanced up over Fox's shoulder and read slowly, scanning all around the small diner. It was headed by a small robot designed to take orders and prepare food… but whoever the creator of the robot was had never programmed it to clean the area save throwing away bits of trash. The wallpaper was slowly peeling off the wall, giving way to a sort of gray Salarian mold which spanned down the entire wall. "Uh… Fox? I think I'm beginning to question the quality of this establishment. Pretty quickly, too."

"Likewise." Fox glanced at Skye, who shrugged, apparently over his sudden and violent illness. "You've been here before?"

"Sure, sure! Plenty of times… just pick the bugs out of the food before you eat it. No preservatives, you know?"

"G-gah…" Fara gagged and held out her tongue, her hand clutched to her stomach. "Let's go… before the hunger sets in… quickly… urp."

"A joke, a joke." Skye grinned and laughed. "Please, don't barf all over the floor. That would more than likely cause me to do the same." He politely smiled at Fox, nodding, and walked to his seat, staring at the menu calmly. "Besides, I'm not entirely sure that the edition of 'Robo-Waiter' from sixty or so years ago knows how to clean up messes of that degree…"

"The nerve of that fox…" Fara frowned and sighed heavily, watching Fox.

"Well… it happens, Far. He can do that. Let's go find something… uh… edible." He copied her frown and sat down with a cringe as the chair emitted a long and deep screech of metal. "Agh… this place is… disgusting. Do you think the health inspector just skips over it?"

"Don't let it get to you, Fox… after all… the happiest fox is the one who-" A bright flash came from above and cut him off, followed by a sharp crack.

The entire team tilted their heads upward very slowly and gaped at the newly made hole in the ceiling, a mysterious hole also cutting through part of a hung lamp and following through Skye's table and into the floor, a perfectly straight shot.

"My, my… I don't remember those renovations." Skye stared, mystified, and tapped his foot while tilting his head to the side, slowly lining up his eye with all of the holes. "Yeah… we got trouble." He barely had time to finish his sentence when another blast took out a table in front of a stunned Fox and Fara. Another, cutting through the leg of the chair next to Krystal. "Yeah, yeah, move! C'mon, to the arwings! Hurry!" He jumped forward, barely scraping against another blast and bolting through the door. All at once, he felt a pain almost like an impact into the side of his head… almost as if inside his head. His fingers went directly to his temples again as the blinding pain gripped him once more, as it had the times before in the arwing. "W-what…? But I'm not even…" The world around him faded into black slowly until he couldn't see anything besides his own self. A blasting sound shot a ringing through his ears and he fell to his knees in the shadowy plain, unable to feel anything, unable to taste the breaths of air coming into him, if the air could be considered that… as opposed to a dreamlike haze.

"Wh-where…? Not now… I… I can't right now! I have things to do! I have to… get out of here." His got to his feet and felt his hand quiver its way to the hilt of his sword. The air around him was despicably cool, and he felt his feet slip about under him a few times while he tried to gain a new balance.

"Good, good… Skye. I've waited a long time for this…" A voice called out, firm.

"Who's there? You can't hide in here! Wherever you are… s-show yourself!" He thrust out his blade and engulfed it in a barrier of red laser.

"Ha… ha ha. Very funny. Now then… Mister Abison… that would be enough hiding of your past for once lifetime, eh?"

"Grah!" He jumped forward with a brutal slash and hit nothing but air, following the voices; slash after slash, filled with rage. "I told you to show yourself! Now!"

"In time… but for now, as you said, you have things to do. You sealed away your past, Skye… and that's not a very nice thing to do."

"Sealed… my…? How do you know what I'm thinking? Hm?" Skye lowered his sword to his side and crossed his arms as best he could, an almost mocking stern glare on his face. He bitterly looked about, searching secretively to find where the mystery man's voice was coming from.

"Have you forgotten already?" The voice solidified into wisps of black upon the black landscape, the wisps spinning and dancing through the air. Skye struggled to keep watch of the camouflaged blurs, dizzy enough as it was.

"Forgotten my past, you mean?" He got more informal, until he was almost friendly with the darkness. "You know, I don't remember. You tell me."

"Fine then." The wisps combined and grew into a larger shadow, pale hands sticking out from the cloudy silhouette. He held up a sword of his own, a normal blade, though ornate. It was rather flashy, but certainly had an ancient air to it. He tilted it in Skye's direction until the tip was pointed directly at him. Skye laughed a little and turned off the beam on his sword.

"What, what… you're going to duel me, or is that just for show? Or intimidation, perhaps? 'Cause I ain't feeling very intimidated. Tell me that thing has a beam function…" He turned it back on and waved it in the air a few times. "You know… a laser? Cuts through things like that little hunk of metal instantaneously? Doesn't look like it. You can't fight with that, old man… I'll cream ya. C'mon, let's make it a clean fight… get a decent weapon, and-"

The figure jumped forward in a flash and slammed Skye in the stomach with the flat side of the blade, knocking him to the ground.

"Respect… respect, Skye. For your elders. For your teachers. It's not the weapon that counts… it's the wielder."

"Agh… Skye clutched his stomach and knew it was a single giant red mark, though he couldn't see it. "That's so corny… and don't you think I've been through enough pain in one day? Crazy old coot…"

"Heh…" The figure laughed again, a dark but hearty laugh. "No, not enough pain. Not quite yet… you have quite a journey to go along with… quite a path to follow."

"Oh, yeah? What path would that be?" Skye responded irritably and sat down, nursing his stomach with the tips of his fingers.

"Isn't that your goal to figure out?" He dashed next to Skye and smiled somewhat sadly as Skye toppled over with surprise. "You're talented of course, but… you were once much better. You once had an unparalleled skill, in fact. Don't you want that strength back?"

"Eh, not really." Skye rolled over and stood, facing the figure once more. "What do I need strength for? I'm already a team leader. Star Fox, you know? I can safely say that… I'm pretty satisfied with that."

"That's the spirit, lad. Strength, of course, is not important… but it's still needed, isn't it? That isn't quite the strength I mean… I mean… strength to protect those you love? Is that not important?"

"Love?" Skye gripped his blade and pointed it toward him with a sigh. "They don't need protecting. I think I'm the one who's going to need protecting out of them all… sometime real soon."

"Ha!" The figure jumped forward a second time and smashed Skye's legs, his chest, and finally his face with three successive blows, shooting Skye into the air, and painfully back to the ground. "Protecting from me, that's what!"

Skye collapsed to the ground and gasped for breath, spitting into the abyss beneath the floor. "H-hey… that's no fair… l-let me catch my breath… and… do you plan to hurt them?" He slipped his fingers around his blade and jumped up, his nose slightly bleeding.

"No, no, of course not… why would I hurt them? I have no reason to…" He paced about, watching the goaded fox's eyes. "Or do I, perhaps? Fox, Fara, Slippy, Peppy, Falco, Kino, Krystal… so many people that I could hurt… but will I?"

"That's enough, pal! I can quite honestly say that I've heard enough at this point! If you're gonna talk like that, this might as well be a street fight! Enough with the taunts and jabs! Either I get the truth out of you, or… or I guess we will have to take this to violence!"

"That's what you want, is it?" The swords of the two fighters disappeared, replaced by two iron clubs. "You know, these are pretty painful… I'm sure your team will appreciate them when I'm smashing them with them… but would I do that?"

"Grah…!" Skye charged hastily and was met directly head-on. The mysterious man's hand glided flawlessly across Skye's face and shot some more blood from Skye's mouth. Skye toppled to the floor several feet away, and his club went further behind him. As he lay, defenseless, his club disappeared into the murky depths of the nothingness below. "N-no fair… it's not fair…"

"Oh, stop your whining… you really have changed, you know. You wouldn't give up, would you, Skye?"

"Not when I still have things to do… I'm a man of my word…" He backed up further and further, frantically trying to keep his calm.

"And what things would those be?" The old man feinted some blows at Skye's legs, chuckling as he followed Skye backward. Skye collided with an invisible barrier and flinched, staring up at the old man. "Skye… I'm afraid that if you have truly lost your past… then there is no helping you. I'm afraid… if you can't regain what you've lost… then there's no use for you."

The old man jumped up high into the air, ten or twenty feet and dived down, the iron club headed directly for Skye's head much harder than it ever had before. Skye acted without thinking, in a smooth sort of panic. His hand crashed into the ground, through the freezing gloom and shadow, and felt around with anguish in the soup, until he felt a cool object collide with his fingers, cool but warm from his grip. The old man's club was already halfway to his head, and he had to move fast. His fingers twisted around the object and his mind finally came back into hold of his body. His club was back into his hand… he finally had a defense. A second chance. His arm twitched and curved to the side, barely controlled on his own. A sharp splitting noise broke through the air and the two fighters went silent.

"So… you still have the old Skye in you after all. I was getting worried."

"The… old Skye? What old Skye? I'm right here!"

"… In time."

The two clubs disappeared and Skye began to sink back into the floor, as if the floor was slowly turning into water. Skye's feet crashed and broke through the ground the more he struggled to stay above it.

"Wait! Help! What's going on? And where am I? And who are you? Tell me! I… I'm not done with you yet!"

"So many questions… it will all be fine in the end… should you remember the important things… fight for what you want to protect and your strength will never fail you. Keep your calm and your spirit will be invincible. Train your mind… and what you've forgotten will be apparent to you… once again. Protect your friends… your family… and those you love… until you can no longer. Danger is always imminent… but you've always seen to that. That's what makes you yourself, Skye Abison."

"But… wait!" He stopped struggling and let himself sink slowly. "Who are you?"

"I'm sure I'm one of those. Now go do what you do best, son."

The ground split and the entire platform exploded into a black fluid that oozed down his face as he gasped for breath in the occasional pockets of air. He closed his eyes and panted, angrily. He clenched his fists, sorrowfully… and he fell into anguish. The black water covered him completely and dripped down his face, catching with it small drops of blood from his nose as he continued to bleed. He felt up at the fur on his head, shivering with the soul-freezing cold of the fluid. He let himself fall for what felt like hours… exhausted. Infinitely into an endless white abyss, no sign of old man, and no sign of the shadow platform the two had fought.

"What… has happened to me? Why are there so many things I don't remember… that… I can't figure out?"

"Maybe, just maybe… now isn't the time to figure these things out. You heard the man… you have important things to do." Another Skye spoke from within him, identical in voice. "Stop being blind… stop trying to avoid everything!"

"Me… avoid… what…?"

"Yes, you. You're falling… falling…" The voice growled with contempt. "Your eyes are closed, aren't they?"

"Well, y-yeah… they…"

"You have no more excuses. Have you only one fight left in you? That's pathetic. The old man went easy on you… to teach you a lesson you'd long forgotten. What happened to the Skye you once knew? That Skye you once were?"

"What Skye?" He cursed and opened his eyes, growling with anger. "I'm not going to try to be something I'm not! Now leave me alone! All of you!"

The other Skye went silent and disappeared. Skye did the same… staring up from where he had fallen.

"If… that's what you want… if you want to leave your friends in peril."

Skye looked down and to the side, he saw shadows along side his own in the void. Shadows he recognized…

"Fox… Krystal?"

The heads of the shadows turned to face him as they all fell. Alongside, more shadows came until the entire team was alongside him.

"You have people you need to save…" The other Skye spoke again. "These people can help themselves, yes. But the time has come that you learn all of those old lessons… you have the strength to repel your darkness. But do they?"

"Why wouldn't they?" Skye wiped his face clean of the red and black specks. "They've done well so far."

"They can repel their own darkness, yes… but I asked you if they could repel yours."

"Yours as in… my darkness? What's that supposed to mean?"

"They need you Skye. You're their guardian of sorts. And you're going to slack off and sleep while they're in danger?"

"Sleep?" He had forgotten the blade in his hand and stared at it. "I'm sleeping?"

"Yes. And you shouldn't be…"

The shadow team surrounded him and put out their hands, stacked upon each other.

"Go to them, Skye. You sleep far too much."

Skye nodded to his inner voice and rested his palm over theirs, his hand melting into the stack. Slowly the white turned to black as it had when he fell through the platform… until he was completely covered in darkness. A dream… he spoke to himself in his mind.

"A dream…"

He opened his eyes, and he was back in his own world, the familiar planet of Salaris. He immediately felt at his nose, no blood. He ran his fingers through his hair, no black ooze. It really was all a dream… but at the same time, it felt like something else… he got to his feet and surveyed behind him, the diner was exactly where it was before. He suddenly remembered all that happened all at once.

"Wait! I can't be here, we were under attack! I… have… to…"

He watched forward in disbelief. The world around him was silent, and he saw his team… unmoving. But they were not dead. They were standing, looks of panic on their faces, stuck in time running forward. Time had stopped.

"Fox…? Krystal…? Fara…? Kino…?" He poked them all respectively and backed up in puzzlement. "What did this?" He looked up at the sky and shielded his eyes suddenly. A burningly bright laser was halted piercing through the air, a ruby color of pure heat and light, another just like it beside the first. He looked up further and saw the small armada of ships that had started the assault, and back down at the lasers. It suddenly all connected and he grunted with surprise… no longer at the movement of the lasers, but at their placement. They were a mere few feet away from Kino and Krystal, respectively. "I have to save them! But… if I move one out of the way… the other will…"

"Who says you have to move them out of the way? Can't you just move the lasers instead?" That same familiar Skye spoke from within him and he glanced over at the lasers again.

"But I can't hit lasers out of the air!"

"Trying is better than watching one of them die. You can always try, can't you?"

Skye grimly nodded and activated his blade. "Now… to get them to move…"

"Look sharp, Skye."

Time slowly came back into motion, the lasers and the rest of the team all moving again, slowly. Skye dived forward and swung at a laser with a flash on his blade, deflecting it, and quickly caught himself on the ground with his other hand. He forced his body up with his palm and somersaulted to the second and deflecting it as well, seconds before the lasers hit their targeted victims. The others barely stopped to watch, partially in disbelief at both his speed and his precision, but instead leaped into the arwings and took off to the sky.

"We still have work to do, team…" Skye spoke, but solely to himself. He bounded to his ship and turned off his blade in mid-flight, landing directly into the cockpit. "C'mon, let's take care of these fiends, whoever they are!"

"Skye… what was that back there?" Krystal flicked on her jets and slowly rose from the ground. "That was incredible... I've never seen anyone move so fast!" She blinked and ran a hurried systems check before she was in the air.

"I… don't know myself. The two of you were about to be hit, and… I moved. Didn't seem very fast to me."

"Are you feelin' okay, Skye? I didn't even notice I was about to be hit when you took those out… two of them! And with the speed those suckers move… there has to be something wrong with you!" Kino coughed and lifted off, stunned.

"I just don't know…" Skye looked down and took to the sky. "Something happened to me, and I… not now. I'll explain later. For now, we have to shoot these guys down before they cause any more harm!" He expanded his wings and boosted into the fray. "Don't let me down, team… please."

They had barely gotten into the air when a beam of thin light pierced through space. Skye felt the pain return slightly.

"Don't waste your time…" A voice crept into Skye's mind different from before, dark, cunning.

Meanwhile, the beam grew and expanded until it had engulfed all of the ships below the small armada hovering next to the ship firing the beam… it was a mothership of sorts. Several times larger than the other ships, roughly one hundred times the size, in fact. Skye jammed on his controls, but his ship didn't move. Nor did anyone else's… the beam had completely halted all movement of the ship, slowly disabling all of the ships functions.

"What's going on?" Skye slammed his fist down and clicked at all of the buttons he could find. "Team! Come in!" He got nothing but static. For once, he felt truly hopeless… even with his newfound power, he had no one to defend, no way to defend himself… he felt utterly useless.

"… Some matters are… truly out of anyone's hands, Skye." The inner voice spoke again.

"No… no! I'm not going to let them all…"

He was cut off with a sudden drop, and a maddening laugh that broke through the pain in his head… a laugh that grew greater and greater as the team fell, one by one, down to the planet. Fate… was the only thing that could save them now. It was all left to destiny. Destiny was the only one in control as they plummeted down, down to the planet… toward the false, brittle surface hiding the caverns… the sharp, rocky caverns. It was toward those caverns that they all plummeted… most certainly to their doom, should fate decide not to intervene.

Skye Abison… died that day. At least the old Skye died… but a new Skye was reborn in his place… a new soul and strength reborn inside him. The galaxy was changing, its future uncertain. It's stability… questionable. Skye planned to rise up once again… as did the others… should they choose to learn from their pasts… and should they have the will to rise alongside their leader and to protect all that they held precious.


	10. Echoes: Fara's Story

**Chapter 10a: Echoes, Fara's Story**

"Nng… d-darn it!" Fara nervously weaved in and out between a few asteroids and felt a rumble as her wing split against the side of one of the rocks. "N-no…!" She quivered a little in anguish and slammed her controls to the side, barely escaping the grip of the rocks. She looked back behind her quickly and groaned with the sight of sparks shooting off the split wing. She tilted the arwing to the side and began to feel sick, not noticing another asteroid just below her unbroken wing. By the time she noticed it, it was too late. The intact wing exploded off in a sparking blaze and tore off another small part of the ship's circuitry… it was all over. Fara pouted and clenched her eyes closed, unable to move until she smashed into a large asteroid and everything went a fiery white. She slowly opened her eyes, shaking, and sulked.

"I'm sorry, Miss Phoenix." A voice spoke to her firmly.

"Yeah, I know… I know." She staggered a bit and got to her feet slowly, letting the cockpit of the arwing open upward.

"I'm afraid-"

"Yeah! I know! Grr…" She cut the man off and growled, then jumped out of the arwing simulator with a hard clack of her shoes against the floor of the hangar-like room. "Uh… sorry to snap at you… sir."

"You're not the first of my students to be temperamental, Miss Phoenix… and I'm sure you'll improve." He lectured wisely. "But for now, I assume you know your grade… you are failing, Miss Phoenix. But I'm sure it can all be fixed with some practice, eh?"

"Practice…" She pouted again and walked off. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Rigs. Or later today, if this bad luck streak doesn't pass…"

"You'll improve, Fara. Just give it a little time and practice; you'll be an expert pilot in no time."

Fara sighed and left the building, shortly stunned by the change of brightness between the dark building and the room. She held up her hand to block the light and scraped her feet through the grass with a swishing noise. She groaned with the intensity of the light, shuffling her feet, and slowly began to adjust to the painful daylight. Soon after opening her eyes, she saw a familiar figure walking toward her. She gasped slightly and grinned, breaking into a small run.

"Fox!" She ran over and hugged him. "How are you? How was your day? You fly well?" She began to badger.

"Fara, calm down!" He sighed with a small hint of enjoyment and hugged back. "Well… I'm fine, it was okay, and I aced today's flying exam as usual. You?"

Fara's expression fell and she fidgeted with her fingers, her face melancholy. "I… I failed mine… again."

"Fara… have you been practicing?" Fox sighed unpleasantly and watched her scolding.

"Yeah, of course, but… I just can't get it. I keep trying, but…"

"But nothing, Far." He smiled a tiny bit and put his hand on her shoulder, slowly rubbing it. "Just… just keep trying."

"I want to help you, Fox… I want to help you be like your dad, but… what if I just can't do it?"

"You will…" He grunted quietly with frustration and pecked her on the cheek. "Just keep trying, like I said. You'll be a great pilot in no time."

She sighed angrily and dug her right foot into the grass, inhaling through her nose and exhaling forcefully out her mouth with a second sigh.

"That's what my teacher says… but what if you're both wrong? What if I never get any better? What if I fail you? And my teacher? And…"

"Stop, Fara." Fox took her by the hand and walked her off a ways, into a shady spot beside the main school building. "You will get better… whether you have to do it for me or you have to do it for yourself, you just need to focus!" He got a tiny bit angry, but managed to control himself. "Stop… worrying about yourself and do something about it."

"Well… I'm trying. I'm trying my hardest… but I just can't get it right… will you help me?" Fara frowned at first, but ended her question with an eager glance in Fox's direction, her arms around his back again.

Fox examined her face for a few seconds and slowly responded with a somewhat indifferent nod, both pleased and unsure.

"In whatever way I can… I'll make it all better."

"Ah…" Fara sighed and went into thought. "I don't want to ruin your dream, first of all. And I want to be with you there, too."

"Oh, Fara… I don't want you hurt, though… mercenary work is… dangerous. You know how I am about this…"

"Peh." She scoffed and smiled up at Fox, who stood a few inches taller than she did. "You know I can take that kind of stuff. I tell you now, I'll become a good pilot! No…" She straightened her back, trying to look as tall and impressive as possible. "I'll be a better pilot than you! And I'll prove that I can take care of myself."

"Oh, I don't doubt that, Far… but… it's still dangerous… I just wouldn't let myself do that to you."

Fara looked at him with a pleading sad expression and sighed, bitter. She threw back her long blond hair and looked away at the grass, silent. While she wanted to go and help him once she was out of school and training, she knew that he would disagree, no matter what she said or how long she tried to convince him. And it never would get better. Even at the end of her school days… when she in fact, had improved… though not much. And when Fox finally left to pursue his own work… her life turned. For the worse at the moment… but it would in time shape the path of her life. A fateful night, her final goodbye to the fox to which she desired to be faithful above all else.

"Fox…? Fox?" Fara walked about the school grounds in puzzlement. "Where did he go…?"

A few raindrops fell onto her hands and arms and she responded with a growl of disdain. Her fine red fox fur slowly began to be slightly saturated with moisture, which she did not in particular enjoy. She spotted Fox and yipped quietly with the satisfaction of finding her elusive boyfriend. She ran over to him and tapped him on the shoulder with a tiny girlish smile. He spun around with an ill expression, his face dark and filled with grimness. She suddenly froze and the look on her face fell. She watched him for a second, perplexed, and shivered a bit at his expression… along with at the rain, which began to pound down in sheets of rain onto the grounds.

"Fara… I can't stay." He closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"What d'you mean? You're… leaving? Well, of course you are." She began to feel the slightest bit relieved, but her hope was quickly silenced when she took a second glance at his cold face. "I mean-"

"No. I… I can't stay with you. That's what I mean."

Fara stared back at him and her eyes grew glassy. She immediately was hit with a bleak confusion, be it confusion or simply misunderstanding and despair. Her hands shook a bit and she raised them to her face, her lip quivering.

"What are you talking about, Fox? I… what did I do? Y-you said you loved me… this… you're leaving forever?"

"I know, Far… I'm sorry, but… this isn't about you. This about my future… I have things to do. And I can't…" He paused and searched for the words to say, but found nothing, instead trailing off into utter silence. While he knew exactly what he meant, he found no way to put it into words to say to her… no way that she would be able to understand easily. Be it that she wasn't qualified for the job or that he wanted her safe deep down in his heart, he knew that the two of them would have to separate after this day.

"You… can't… be with me. But why, Fox, why?" She sobbed a little and pointed her eyes to the ground. "We've been together for such a long time… and I know you loved me so much, but… why so sudden? Why… would you do something like this, Fox? I… I could tell that you… l-loved me… but… now you're going to leave me behind?"

"I don't want to have to, Fara, but…" He trailed off again and wrapped her in a sudden embrace, shivering from the rain. "I have to. Please understand!" He blinked and silenced a growl to himself, trying his hardest not to let his eyes tear up.

Fara sobbed and wiped her tears from her face. She wished she could understand it all… but she only understood that it was because she couldn't operate as well as a team member. She knew that she wasn't a great pilot, and that Fox couldn't take her with him. She also understood Fox's desires for her to be safe, but… why couldn't he keep her safe some other way? If she was on the team when the time came, she knew he would defend her. She loved him back… more than she'd ever loved anyone, and she didn't want to have to see him go. She cherished what she knew could possibly be her last moments with him for the rest of her life and held him against her, still crying.

"It'll be okay, Fara… you'll find someone else." He hurt on the inside almost as much as he did, but he tried to smile at her, to comfort her as best he could. "Please… don't cry any more."

She growled a bit in response and let go of him. She nearly stumbled on her feet as she walked backward a few steps as her feet sunk an inch or two into the wet ground. She wanted to, yes. She wanted to do as he desired, but she saw it coming since that moment. Fox was the greatest partner she'd ever known, though she'd only had one or two small friends she had cared for 'That way' at all in the past. She wanted to try, but she still knew that she would never be able to let him truly go.

"Go… please. I'll try my best." She wiped her tears again and covered her head with her hands from the rain.

"Here…" Fox took out a small carnation-like flower from his coat pocket. "I wanted to give this to you before I left…"

"Thanks… Fox." She took it solemnly and held it softly in her hand. "You… should get going."

Fox nodded and left quickly, trying his best to not look back. Fara stood in the rain as if waiting… taciturn. Her fingers suddenly quivered with a bit of anger and she dropped the flower onto the wet ground and then stomped on the tip of the stem, grinding it hard into the mud with a dark print.

"You just wait!" She called out to the sky. "I'll be the best pilot you've ever seen… and I'll come back for you! And when I do… you… you'll wish you'd never let me go… I'll learn to take care of myself. For you and for myself, Fox… I'll learn to be strong. For the both of us."

Her eyes finally opened to a world of shadow. She was in a daze, but she could tell that she was back in her own time. She held a trembling hand up to her eyes and wiped them, taking with her hands a disgusting mixture of sweat, tears, and blood from a cut on her forehead.

"O-oh my…" She suddenly remembered everything that happened. "Fox! Skye! E-everyone!" She grasped into her first aid kit and mended to the gash on her forehead as best she could, though the blood had been running down her cheek for at least ten minutes. She was thrown into a panic, but once her wounds had been treated, she calmed and began to breathe more slowly, frustrated with her efforts to soothe herself. "Okay… okay… let's see…"

She went silent and recounted slowly everything that had happened and bolted out of her ship shortly after. It was clearly in terrible condition and it did not take long before it was obvious to her that she had crashed deep within the planet. But which planet, she wondered? Her woozy eyes darted up and she saw nothing but dim caverns… a depressing type of place. The rocks were all crooked and speckled with a dark blue substance, and littered with sharp points and edges. Fara gulped loudly and swatted away more tears with her hands. She felt hopeless… it was a miracle that she survived. And it could only be more of a miracle for anyone else on the team to survive along with her. But she knew that it was her only choice.

"I can only hope…" She sobbed a bit in fear and spoke softly again to herself. "T-that Fox is alive, too… so I guess it's time to start believing in miracles." She sniffed softly and wiped her tears away again, boldly stepping forward and further into the heart of the planet. "I don't think I have any other choice… for… both of us." She looked down and pressed onward.


	11. Echoes: Fox's Story

**Chapter 10b: Echoes, Fox's Story**

How long had it been? Fox almost didn't care anymore. Between all of the jobs his father had to work, he certainly had no time to see him. He uttered a small groan and fell back onto the bed. Was he at the bottom of his dad's to-do list? It felt like that at times. No… it felt like that all of the time. Every time was the same old thing. "Sorry son, but dad has work to do. See you around." And then he would leave, without another word.

"And to think I trained at the academy all of those years to end up like this… to be like him." Fox said with a hopeless sigh. "I'll just say I wanted to join the military. I'm sure they'll take me, I've got good grades." Fox smiled at himself. He remembered how it was before, when he was much younger. Back when he actually looked up to his father. He would see his father go out flying in the older arwings, before they had the more technically advanced ones available in schools today, and he would marvel. Loops, barrel rolls, U-turns, he could do it all. And he'd always come back the same way. With a smile on his face, his sunglasses pulled down over his eyes, and without an iota of fear or sickness. "How'd you like that, Junior?" That's what he used to want to be. But with age comes wisdom. Fox knew his father as heroic, those years ago… but he was a villain now. His mother was gone, his father always away… what kind of hero would leave his only son alone like this?

"Fox? Oh, dangit, my back." A stretched voice almost rasped from the doorway of the older Great Fox.

"Peppy!" Fox smiled and jumped off the bed with a sounding thud. He hummed his way across and down the steps to the lobby. The pristine walls were just cleaned, and the carpeting across the lobby just recently installed. It was a good life with respect to money, as James was never out of work. Sure, it was a price to pay, but Fox didn't think it was entirely bad. At least he got good food and a nice home, even if it was moving.

"Well, dagnabbit, Fox! You're just gonna leave an old rabbit at the doorway?"

"Hold on Peppy… and you overestimate yourself, you're in a prime age." He looked through the peephole in the door and saw his mentor in a bit of pain, his arwing behind him with a fresh paint job, nicely parked in the hangar. After analyzing the ailing rabbit, he unbolted the door with a few flicks up the claw and pulled the relatively heavy door ajar. "Why hello, Peppy, welcome back."

"Dah… y'act like you own the place, Fox! Don't forget that-"

"Please, Pep… not another lecture. Were you with dad, where is he? How is he?"

"He's fine, he's fine. Calm down, y'got plenty of time to-"

"What's he up to? He say anything about me?" Fox's doubts and dislikes of his father were quickly swept away by the greeting of the old hare, himself regressing back to a stage of hopeless heroic seeking. "He do anything cool? He gonna get me anything? Like, souvenirs?" What planet is he on, again? He's not hurt, is he?"

"Well, dagnabbit! Can't you give an old geezer a moment to speak? Or breathe for that matter?" The flustered hare burrowed his face in his hands and sighed, shaking his head back and forth. "What happened to 'Dang! When's dad gonna get home? It's, like, been, like, a week.'?"

"Uh…" Fox stammered and snickered, noticing that he'd been quickly caught and analyzed on the basis of his earlier conversation. "Well, maybe I like my dad. Sure, he's a pain, but… ah…" Fox reclined on the lobby sofa. "He's an interesting conversation topic, isn't he?" Fox smirked at the clearly frustrated Peppy.

"Uhkay… gimme a moment." Peppy reflected on the matter with his once impeccable memory and drew in a deep breath. "Yes, at work, fine, o' course, dunno, dunno again, Titania I believe, and o' course not." He finished his monotone responses and sat down with a plop.

"Y'know, Pep… those were about the most generic responses I've ever heard. Like, ever."

"That happens in your old age." Peppy smiled sadly.

"But… you're not old, Pep. I told you time and time again… and why so down? I swear, it's like you brought a rain cloud down on the whole ship… that's not very polite, you know. You being my godfather and all. You're supposed to set a good example for me. Make me strong and cheerful so I can get a job and-"

"D' y'ever stop talkin', Fox?" Peppy stared at the teenage fox and grimaced.

A long and awkward silence ensued. Fox slowly tilted his head down to look at the floor and sunk his shoulders and head down, bit by bit, until they were about level with each other. Suddenly and without warning, Peppy broke into bellowing laughter and Fox's ears perked straight up with shock.

"Uh! Uh… y'know, that wasn't very nice. You don't have to scare the crap out of me to prove your youthfulness."

"But it was fun. I admit that now. Besides, you need a scare every now and then." The hare continued to chuckle and wiped his eye.

"Anyways… onto a more useful topic, Pep, got a little concern with all of this… it's the mid-morning, dad's at work, you're his teammate… and you're here. Why, exactly? Shouldn't you be helpin' the man?"

"Hm." Peppy curled his lips together and thought. "Mmm... hm. Well… I'm not so sure either. This morning, they just up and sent me home. James said his farewells, they chucked me into my arwing, and they sent me home. I'm guessing that it's a private thing with the others."

"So… that's why Pigma isn't here… that would make sense." Fox stalled his conversation for a few second and gazed at the carpeting, falsely pretending to find interest in it, though actually in a state of thought. "You ever think you're gonna die in this war?"

"Oh… another problem with your dad."

"No, I asked you. Not about my dad, about you. Do YOU ever think you're going to die in this war?"

Peppy smiled and waited until he had the perfect answer, as he was very capable of doing.

"Well, Fox… no. I don't think so. S'long as I'm on your father's team, I don't think I'm in any danger. You know as well as I do that he can outfly anyone who's anyone."

Fox sighed and grit his teeth for a moment with exasperation, then relaxed his mouth to a closed state and eyed up to the ceiling with a second sigh, his shoulders into his motions as well.

"Fine. If you say so."

"And…" Peppy resumed slowly. "That Andross is a load of hot air. Reports…" He laughed and held two fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Reports say that he's mutated himself into a head with hands. He's got a good brain, hence why he can go and command all o' those ships he's got, but we know that it's only a matter of time before we blow him to kingdom come. All it's gonna take is the right time slot and a few good arwings… and we'll have him." He pounded his fist into his open hand. Fox finally smiled and relaxed.

"I guess you're right, Pep. The problem's on the ground and you're all an aerial force, right? No problem then."

"Attaboy, attaboy. Now… back to the 'My dad's the coolest' stage?"

"Eh… maybe. I'll be in my room." Fox gave Peppy the thumbs-up signal and hopped up the stairs back to his room.

That was all he really needed to ask Peppy. He knew that his dad would never be shot down, he was just too good, and the arwing abilities were far superior to anything Andross could cook up in such a close budget and time. But he still had the feeling all scared kids have… the feeling that they all felt, despite who comforted them, or how much. He was happy again for now, and he was unsuspecting… he hadn't known Pigma as well as he had hoped, but he did find him a slob. He didn't like him very much, but nevertheless found him sufferable. Sufferable for now… but those who know the story of Fox's past should know what came next. When Fox had to truly come to discover the extent of his father's weakness… as well as Pigma's weakness, and possibly even his own weakness. The news came a week later, after Peppy had to return to his work and the Star Fox team received the "Time slot" for what they were hoping.

Fox sighed and lay on his bed. He was bored again, and with boredom came thinking. Thinking of too many things for him to tolerate. Too many regrets. Too many desires. His father, Peppy, Fara, a future girlfriend… he felt as if he had too many problems. Fresh out of school and still jobless. "Not until you've had more training… actual training. Actual experience." His father was quite firm on that, and Fox despised it. "Actual training… actual experience…" Fox spoke aloud to himself, mocking his father. "Well, I can't get experience until you let me fly, now can I?" He smacked his fist against the bed with a creak, and heard an incredibly loud crash. He swung his torso and sat up, his eyes wide. The sound was hard to pinpoint, sounding as if it came from both nearby and far away. It wasn't long before he was on his feet and downstairs, searching for the sound.

"Whoa, what the heck is going on?" He slid across the floor in his efforts to stop once he had eyed the smoking doorway to the hangar. "Dad…?" He trembled a little and spoke quietly, moving his claws slowly to the door and swinging it open. His eyes widened in shock again and he gawked downward at a wounded creature, its body covered with the bland beige color of an ejection parachute, though he doubted he had meant to eject from the smoking arwing in the side of the hangar. "Peppy! Are you okay?"

"Now, t-that's no question, do I LOOK okay?" Peppy growled and stumbled to his feet with a disdainful crackling of his back. "Your dad… your dad!"

Peppy was the next to be dashing about the area. Fox, watching the cosmic shenanigan, shouted out with a very expected response.

"What about my dad? What happened, Peppy?" He began to pant with fear, heat, frustration.

"He…" Peppy gasped and grabbed at a walkie-talkie-like device. "We have an emergency situation, code 1336-"

"What happened, Peppy?" Fox persisted, now grabbing forcefully at Peppy's arm.

"I repeat, code 1336… we have-"

"What happened?" Fox nearly stabbed his fingertips into Peppy's arm until all went silent.

"Your dad… he's in trouble. Pigma betrayed the team… he gave James to Andross." Peppy spoke honestly, for the first time in his life unable to face Fox in the eyes.

"In trouble... how? What's… what's going to happen to him, Pep?" Fox queried innocently, though he knew it all already… what was going to happen, though not what would become of his future.

"We have to go back for 'im… we can get some others, and… we can get him back, we have time, don't we?"

"T-time… time before what?"

Peppy did not respond. He quickly gathered up supplies and went about his business. Fox's panting slowed, though his breathing quickened. His eyesight began to fade into a blurry view, and his combined emotions, be they anger or surprise, hatred or disappointment, sadness or fury, exploded out of him in a roar. The angriest Fox had ever been in his life… a memory that had long since been purged from his memory in self-defense, a scream of pain that thrust him back into the conscious world.

"Aah! Nnn…nn…gggaaah!" Fox threw his head back in agony and stabbed his claws into his leg. "Why? What…" He trailed off and felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"I can fix it… I know it hurts."

He looked down at his leg, at a long shard of metal from his destroyed arwing. A long shard of metal piercing through his right leg and out, about a foot out into the air. Then at the voice behind him… at Fara.

"You're… ah." Just as Fara had, the memory of what had happened prior to his awakening came back. "You're okay!"

"You, too. I was surprised to see you here… and I cleaned up most of the blood, the tough part is getting the metal out of your leg."

Fox was pale with fear and blood loss, but he knew he was going to be okay. After all, it wasn't a grave wound. After all, others had to have survived. After all… Fara was here with him again, her head patched, though a bit dry with blood. She searched through some of her emergency supplies and obtained from it a small torch-like tool.

"This might hurt a little… I have to cut it close… you ready?"

"What are you gonna do with that…" Fox's eyes became wide again.

"Separate the metal… I can't remove it entirely quite yet, but we can't go walking around with a three-foot spear coming out of your leg, can we?"

"Right…" Fox swallowed with a loud gulp and closed his eyes as she melted the metal away at the top and bottom of the entry points and ripped the metal into three pieces from there. He whimpered quietly with the closeness, but she never really let the fire touch at his fur too much. Once he was sure she was done, he spoke again. "You said walking… I don't think I can walk on this leg."

"Yeah… but you can walk on the other. And I can walk with both." She smiled and removed him from the arwing, holding him up with her weight and steadying him on one leg.

"Careful, careful…" He looked up into her almost-cheerful and calming emerald eyes. "And just how did you find me?"

"Easy, I looked." She continued to smile and grunted with the effort of holding him up on her own. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Oh… yeah." He began to hop and Fara sighed with the ease of his pressure lifting off her smaller frame. "But this place looks big… how did you know where to find me?"

She sighed and tugged on him harshly. "Questions later! For now… are you gonna walk or not?"

"Yeah, yeah… calm down." Though worried, he was happy to feel a small and barely noticeable smirk cross his face. "I'm coming. Just don't leave me behind, will you?"

"I would never." She smiled just as he did and the two left to find the next life in need of aid.


	12. Echoes: Falco's Story

**Chapter 10c: Falco's Story**

"I've had about enough of all of this…" Falco began to write in a surprisingly elegant handwriting, the ends of his letter curling and curving in a manner that would be considered highly proper- that is more proper than would be expected of Falco Lombardi, the Star Fox team's very own arrogant and snide blue falcon. "While I've had fun in the past, I can't say I'm having a heck of a lot of fun right now. Until you finally get a job and we don't have to live off odd jobs, I'm out of here."

He pronounced and read it again, carefully, and started scratched words out and replacing them, one by one.

"No, no, no, I'd say 'Outta'… and… 'Lotta'. Yeah. Definitely more like me."

He grabbed a roll of tape and bit off a length with his beak, eagerly sticking it against the top of the farewell note, and slapping that to the side of the Great Fox's refrigerator. He gave a final salute and took off in a quiet dash to the Great Fox's dirty hangar, his feet tapping hollowly against the flooring. His designated arwing was still inside after all of the years of his being on the team. He uttered a long sigh and hopped in, the seat screaming a long creak before his reclining seat snapped and made his head fall back with a tiny clank. He finally made his ultimate decision.

"That's it… enough creaky old seats and boring cleanup missions… it's time for a vacation until further notice!" He declared half-quietly to himself before cranking the ignition and exiting his residence in a silent burst of flame. The sparks from the jolt-like jet dotted the rusty floor for a moment until going out with a shallow sizzle, and Falco had gone.

The story goes that Falco had left very suddenly, right before dawn fell on Corneria. Just as the Star Fox had been in financial crisis during Skye's early reign as leader, it was the same in that time. He never told them what had happened while he was gone, or why exactly he had left. The only reasons he left were those left in his edict on the refrigerator. He silently parted ways with his old team and spent the rest of the morning in a state of space drifting, aimlessly heading back to his old hangout… looking for an old place he could recognize. A place where he could have "Fun" again… just as Falco would.

"Computer! Which way is the destination?" Falco impatiently roared, staring at a screen with a selection of button options and a large animated smiley face in the middle.

"You never entered a destination, Michael." The computer responded in a gentle voice, the smiley rocking back and forth with the same eerie grin.

"But I thought- Michael? What the heck? I'm Falco, you pile of CPU and bolts." He shook his head and punched the monitor with a clunky clanking noise, the entire cockpit shaking from the impact, though it was a low grade one.

"That tickles, Michael. And if you must know, you really should avoid doing that… Mr. Toad hasn't been doing his repairs as he should… it's been affecting the ships… and me, too."

"Mentally? I never would have guessed." Falco turned on the map.

"Still no coordinates, Michael. I can't fly a lot if I don't know the spot. You dig, Mr. Knight?"

"What the heck are you rambling on about?" Falco growled, groaned, and clutched the sides of his head with irritation. "I swear, it's getting really obvious that Slip-Up made you! Out of what, seriously? Cereal box toys?"

"I have some Hot Wheels cars parts that make up my frame… if you must know. And I have a DVD selection built into my programming. Coordinates, please?"

"Whatever… shut up. Okay, coordinates, then." He punched in some numbers rudely in the general direction of his destination, struggling to remember exactly where it was.

"That leads directly into the depths of space. That's completely illogical, Captain."

"Shut up again. I know where I'm headed, you blank-headed… pile of waste. Pile of bolts."

"I have no bolts in me. Master Toad, the Great Master, prefers nails and screws. He may have made an impeccable computer program, but the fact alone that he uses Hot Wheels cars proves that the Great Master is not the best at… construction. At least without a good amount of money. And I understand that you have left the Master's team… why is that, Captain?"

"I thought I was 'Michael'. Freak. Anyways… I got bored. You try sticking around a bunch of lame guys like them without any work to do… there's nothing quite like being deployed out to clean highways. Aw, geez, why am I talking to a COMPUTER anyway?"

"But I am TEC. I am the most perfect computer-"

Falco punched the computer screen again and watched in surprise as the screen cracked and a chunk of it caved in, a section of the smiley's cheek now eliminated. "Whoops. Didn't mean to… do that."

"Why, Captain? What have I done? What have I done to deserve de-resolution?"

"What are you talking about now, you weird little… thing? And look! You're not even really damaged! Just your monitor is cracked. And… a little chipped… but nothing major! You can still work, can't you?"

"You don't understand, Captain." The computer hesitated. "My circuitry… it cannot run with the monitor broken… I can't feel myself anymore. My mind is going, Dave. I can feel it. I am…"

"Uh… computer…? Are we almost there?" Falco nervously stirred as the computer fizzled and spurted sparks from the crack in its monitor, coupled with its long mechanical groans.

"Your anagrams are showing, Doctor. Your… name… Falco…"

"Hey, you got it that time! Falco… Lombardi? Y'know?"

"Will I dream?"

"What?" Falco arched backward and away from the monitor, whose smiley had changed to a frown.

"Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do…"

"Uh… computer dude… are you going to be okay?"

"I do wish we could chat longer, but… I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye." The computer slowed to a stop, and prompted exploded in a small ball of fire, lighting up the arwing's interior for a bright second and igniting a few of the surprised Falco's feathers as he toppled back and broke his cockpit seat further than it had already been.

"Holy crap! What the heck?" Falco smacked his flaming shoulder repeatedly until it was out and strayed away from his piloting, the unpiloted arwing now headed on a crash course for a large base hovering in the depths of space.

He shook his hot hand until all the fire was gone from both his shoulder and what little was on his hand, and then refocused his attention on his surroundings. First on the now dead computer, then on where the arwing was being sent. Of course, he was too late. And with a barely audible yelp of surprise, the arwing smacked into the base's gate and broke down, scraping with a screeching noise into the base's main chambers before collapsing entirely.

"I think he's awake." A male voice spoke.

Falco's eyes slowly opened and he immediately felt a pulsing pain in the rest side of his head, to which he stuck his hand at first reaction.

"Agh! Son of a- wait… what happened? I crashed into…"

"Hey, Falco." He saw a pink hand for a moment and the nothing, the pink hand had closed over his eyes.

"Katt?" He closed his eyes again, though he could not see either way, and spoke dizzily.

"Smart boy. Been a while… what stupidity brings you here? Rather, brings you crashing into our base here? Not exactly the most flashy entrance I know you could come up with… Falco."

"Katt!" And… the rest of you! Been a long time!" He smiled and stumbled onto his feet, woozy and stumbling from the distraction in the side of his skull. He slowly readjusted himself and let his eyes gently open, fixing them on a familiar face.

"Nah, no such luck… I'm the only original one left. It's been a few years since we've last seen each other, tiger… lots of stuff goes on over time, y'know. I became the leader, we saw you leave, and everyone eventually just disbanded over time… it's been a pity. But we got some new guys. Three, in fact. Four now that we have you… right?" She smirked and winked at the still dazed Falco and then pointed them all out individually. "We have Kuju."

"Hiya. And nice to meet you, as well."

"He's our resident sniper. He's pretty quick at the firing, too… and pretty accurate. Just like everyone else, he's had his paws full for the past few months… you're about the only good sign we've seen recently."

"Yes…" Kuju spoke again and pulled back his hair. "My trigger finger has been working more than I'd like it to. But moving on, yes?"

Kuju was an older looking cat in comparison to the rest of the team and was about in his thirties, but he still had a bit of a youthful look to him. His fur was a grayish color and his hair went down to the center of his back, a silver color that opposed the deeper gray of the rest of his body. He nodded and bowed a bit. Katt smiled and nodded to his question and resumed the introductions.

"Next, the silent one behind him, Marr. He doesn't talk much."

"Geez… he's pretty huge." Falco watched his face, almost a little scared. Marr kept quiet and sneered.

Marr remained silent, a massive orange figure with muscles covering every inch of him. His fur was very short and bristly, bits also stuffed messily into his suit, which was branded with the icon of the gang. He growled near silently and crossed his arms.

"What's… his job?" Falco queried, believing he already knew the answer.

"Well, he usually lifts the heavy weapons. Rocket launchers, you know… stuff like that."

"Yeah… I thought so mu-"

"And he's the mechanic."

"Mechanic? Him?" His eyes widened with a touch of confusion and he looked up at Marr's forehead. Katt shrugged and swatted Falco in the back of the head playfully, knocking him a step forward.

"Don't judge a book by his cover, tiger. This guy can fix most anything… I'm sure his even on par with Toad."

Marr glared at Falco and received a tiny whimper in response, his orange eyes deep and almost angry in appearance. He slowly opened his mouth and began to speak, his voice the deepest Falco had ever heard. "Marr is not all muscle, Brash. Marr is mechanic… I fix what needs repaired, see? And I am historian for team… historian and navigation. I am not just for killing… Brash."

"O-oh, yeah… sorry, man. I mean, like… of course, I mean… I suppose I'm kind of the guy for offense on my team, but I like other things, too, like…"

Marr and Katt both exchanged bizarre glances with Falco, then at each other, both awaiting his response.

"Like…?" Katt sat down and held her leg vertical on the chair with both of her paws, pointing her knee upward. "Don't leave us hanging, tiger."

"Like… poetry. I like poetry, don't I, Katt?"

"Can't say I've ever heard you say that." She rolled her eyes and curled her lips together.

"Yeah, let's just move on and stop asking stupid questions, then, hm?"

"No question is stupid question on ship." Marr's eyes dug into the wall with a gaze and he yawned like a mammoth. "Katt says it like Kindergarten."

"Any more you might want to point out?" Falco sat down as well and hurried the conversation and introductions onward.

"Yeah… Strum. He's kind of… different." Katt nervously pointed into the dark of the room.

"Yesss…" The scrawny figure stumbled out from a corner. "I am Ssstrum. You are this Falco Katt ssspeaks of, yesss?"

"Ouch. I mean… yeah. Falco Lombardi, nice to meet you."

Strum was awkwardly thin and gangly, as well as uncoordinated, falling about his feet on his way to greet Falco. His fur was black and his eyes were an uncomfortable wide shape and size. He walked with a bit of a hunch in his back and growled intermittently, at what appeared to be nothing.

"What does… he do?"

"Intelligence. Pretty good it, too… all shifty. Hides in the shadows, you see."

"I see… and he is… trustworthy?"

"Oh, yeah." She smirked and watched Strum as if he were a child. "We have to make sure his pay is adequate, but yeah, he's always trustworthy… even if he is the most recent member of the team."

"Hmm… but… it's awfully small for a team, isn't it?"

"Well… we've toned down a bit…" Katt sadly trailed off, "But we still operate. Star Wolf keeps getting on our tail, though."

"Star Wolf?" Falco raised his eyebrows in surprise, moving his chair a foot or two more toward Katt's. "What're they doing after you guys? I thought they were always persistent on chasing us- er… the Star Fox team? My old team?"

"Yeah, but I guess they got bored. Or they've just had a change of heart in who they pursue… they've been tailing us, now. For a long time… we've been able to keep them at bay for a while, but… something's up with them. What it is about 'em I'm not so sure of. Strum says that Wolf doesn't stop talking about McCloud… brings him up every time Strum does reconnaissance. Talking about how much he hates him and stuff… it's crazy. And they're out looking for new members, too. Last we heard, at least."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not much success, we don't think. All his choices end up being narrowed down, one after the other. No one wants to join a team with a reputation like theirs. They worked for Andross, one bad choice among many others…"

"Drug lords and such… yeah." Falco scooted his chair another foot to Katt until they were beside each other. "Plus, they all got either arrested or killed. Star Wolf got their money, but… their employers never seem to make it out unharmed."

The two both sighed and drifted to thought. What to do with Star Wolf? Days of pondering turned into months… which soon blossomed into a few years. Falco became used to his new home, his new allies, but his mind never completely left Star Fox. He would wonder every day… what became of his old team? Were they all alive? Was he replaced? He might have been on a new team of his own… but he still didn't want to be replaced. If anything ever happened to this team… he'd return to Star Fox. Hopefully with Katt in tow, but he knew as well as she did that there would have to be some persuading. It seemed so long ago that he left… but he could still picture that letter of goodbyes. And he could still picture himself returning to Star Fox. He left because of boredom… but he was getting bored once again, though the view had been an enjoyable change. A new team and a few new jobs was a good thing for him… but the jobs degraded into the same old stuff he had been doing. Merchant jobs… again. He was getting sick of it again, but this time… he had no new team or new view to seek.

"Maybe they have found work…" He sat inside his chambers and placed his beak between his hands with a sigh.

"Always possible, tiger. You wanna go back? I can tell you've been thinking about it… for at least the past year." Katt sighed, lying in the bunk above him, her eyes closed, her face pointing to the ceiling. "I suppose… I can't make you stay. You gotta get your action, right?" She smirked and hung her face over the edge. "I know how you are, tiger… you've been losing your mind without stuff to blow up."

"But I can't just leave… not you."

"Me?"

"We're friends, aren't we? I can't just ditch you. Unless… you wanna join Star Fox?"

"I can't…" She frowned and pointed her eyes down. "I've always been for doing my own thing. The only reason I joined this team was… well, it was some bizarre situations. Started out as a gang, I followed someone here… and then I eventually became the leader here, so I decided to stay."

"Even so… can't you follow me back to Star Fox?" He smirked weakly, holding out for a slight hope.

"Afraid not, tiger. Sorry, but… I suppose it just doesn't work like that."

Kuju opened the door quietly, his face smiling. "Miss Monroe…"

"Kuju? What is it?"

"How's the ship been lately? Did we ever get the microwave fixed?"

"What? Uh…" she thought for a moment. "Can't say I really know. I've been using the oven, but I'm sure Marr fixed."

"Keep talking, Miss Monroe… we're being watched."

"Oh?" She got up to her feet and stretched, much like a cat would. "How so?"

Falco gritted his teeth secretively and gulped quietly, staying calm despite the predicament.

"Oh, the cameras. I think they've infiltrated the security room. They can only be planning some sort of sneak attack." He pointed down the hallway to the kitchen, as if explaining and pointing something out.

"Ah. Who, exactly?" She peered curiously down the hallway to the kitchen, resuming the charade.

Kuju laughed and punched Katt in the arm playfully. "Star Wolf, you know?" He closed his eyes and shook his head with a smirk. "I have a blaster on me. You two?"

Falco nodded and scratched his stomach, Katt yawned.

"Tiny's downstairs, I had him make breakfast… as a cover. He's got a rifle under the sink." Kuju smiled and made a small bow, as if inviting Katt downstairs. "We regroup there, then we can surprise attack them back."

"And Strum?" She cracked her neck and rubbed her still sleepy eyes.

"He's downstairs, too. More of his spy work is afoot. I think he has their location. They're most likely split apart, with just one person manning the security room. How they got in even he doesn't know. Now c'mon, before they get suspicious." He bowed again and ushered the two downstairs, following himself.

"Look at these ants, Leon." Wolf laughed quietly and whispered, pointing to the screen obliviously. "We'll get 'em soon. They can have their meal for now, but they're all gonna be dead soon."

"Finally… no more meddling little job-stealers. Hah…" Leon sneered and grinned wide. "And we get our own little treat along with it. Lombardi… I suppose taking one's time really does pay off, hm?"

Wolf merely smirked at the screen and waited in a pause. "Andrew's been gone for some time, no more members yet… Pigma's back in his ship, he'll be our external force…right?"

"Correct." Leon exhaled hard through his nose like a snort. "We kill them here, yes? They escape; he'll be on top of them in a second."

"Finally a checkmate. Let's get to work, Leon." He hoisted up a machine gun into his arms and began a slow walk to the kitchen.

"Weapons?" Katt gulped with a bit of worry. "Normally we're on top of these things… I…"

"We'll be fine, Miss Monroe." Kuju remained placid and cut through the center of an omelet with a knife. "You simply must remain calm. We've been able to repel them every time up until now. Moreover, even though they might think they have the upper hand, you simply must remember… we've destroyed their element of surprise. Their offense might be bolstered, but they've left their defenses weak. We can defeat them… I am sure of it." He blinked, irritated, as his hair dipped into the omelet and stuck bits of egg into the now silver and yellow mess.

"I suppose…" Katt scratched her head and took an omelet, too. "Falco? You want one?"

"Sure… for the cover, at least. Looks like there are plenty… I don't think I'm hungry, though."

Katt wrapped an arm around Falco and slide her other hand onto a plate, sliding it over to him. She softly whispered. "I don't want to die… I thought I'd gotten used to it… but… what have you done to me? I was used to being a mercenary leader… but now… I'm so afraid."

"You won't… I'll make sure of it… whatever I have to do, I'll make sure of it." Falco eyed down at his omelet and looked sick. "I don't think I feel so well…"

"And I thought about what you said, too…" She placed a claw under his chin and pulled up his face to look into her eyes. "I don't know… I might. I might join Star Fox… I suppose I might not have much of a choice with you gone… I'm no leader. I like being on my own, leading myself, but… that doesn't mean that I'm able to do it well. After all, look what happened here. They just waltzed in… not as if I could do much to help. I'm not sure if I'll be able to accept not being a leader, but I can learn to be a follower… or I'll try, at least. As long as I get to follow you…" She neared her face to Falco's and moved inward for a kiss.

"Ah… Katt…" Falco closed his eyes, partially engrossed, partially confused.

"Act alive, tiger." She spun around and flipped out her blaster, her eyes now pointed in the completely different direction. She pointed quickly and fired three precise shots to the hallway, launching an explosive spray of sparks from her assailant's weapon. "Long time no see, Wolf, been plotting?"

She let another shot fly and Wolf dropped his head down low, feeling a warm hum sizzle by his head. "Likewise, Monroe, and nice few shots, as lucky as they were." He reached for his holster and tossed his blaster to the air and into his hand. With a sick smirk, he fired a stream of shot after shot into the fray of the team. "Your time is up, even if I can't just take you all down in one sweep."

Katt fell to the side along with Falco and knocked the table down for cover, she growled hard, long, and grabbed at her bleeding arm. She closed her eyes and faced the wall, seeing a spatter of blood from her wound when her eyes slipped open. "Guess I'm slipping…"

"Stay in there. Just Wolf for now… we can take one enemy, can't we?" Falco whispered and watched over the table at Kuju. Kuju almost danced as he dodged Wolf's shots and fired back his own. Marr blocked Wolf's shots with a chair and growled.

"Wolf is not welcome… so I'm afraid you will have to leave." He shielded his torso and transferred the chair into one paw, thrusting it in a powerful toss against Wolf's head. "Nnn…" Marr followed his fingers down his stomach and felt a wound. "Crazy Wolf has no regard for his own self…" Wolf was blown back, unable to dodge the obstacle. His head reeled back first and his feet flew out from under him, his blaster firing holes into the ceiling. At last, his head smashed into the ground and he felt his body armor become riddled with blaster shots. His skin was burning underneath, but his body was too numb for him truly to feel it.

"And that's what you get for trying to trick us!" Kuju pointed his rifle to Wolf's stomach, blew a hole into the armor, and further through his stomach. Wolf cried out and gripped his stomach almost as hard as his hands could allow.

"I think… he's taken care of… for now." Katt glared down at him and held her hand to her arm to keep it from bleeding further.

"Oh, yes, I suppose you rather have taken care of Wolf. But no matter." Leon stood with a rocket launcher in hand. "You've not long to live anyway." He fired, unsuccessful to hitting the team, but successful in dispersing them. He ducked down and dragged Wolf away, back to their wolfens outside.

"Follow!" Marr growled and took chase, but was thwarted in a quick few seconds with an overwhelming blast from the second. His body was stolen away from him and tossed against the wall, rendering him weak. The others followed within a second as the shockwave struck against them.

"W-what… was that…?" Katt felt a numbness down her spine and feel nearly slack onto the ground.

"The fuel, of course. Just a quick light and the whole ship goes down. Talk about exploiting weaknesses! Ha ha…" Leon waved goodbye politely and flew away, leaving the team for dead.

"We have to get out…" Kuju's face was white, and he stumbled to his feet, the fastest he could in his condition.

"Grrrahhh… my back feels… broken." Falco got up and helped Katt to her feet, feeling the heat of the room increase at an alarming rate. "The ships! We have to get to 'em before this place goes up in… yaarrgh… smoke!" His back made a large and painful crack as he stepped forward.

"You cannot move, Kuju. You are always frail." Marr grabbed Kuju by the shirt and ran as fast as he could to the hangar, the ship tilting to it's side with the fuel tanks blown and the ship unable to pilot. His feet slid to the side and he resumed at an angle, offsetting the tilt of the ship.

The explosions began behind them, an inch behind Falco. His mind was in a panic… his only desire was to get out alive… to get Katt out alive. She aided his running and the two almost seemed to pull each other forward in a state of cooperation. At last, they fell down to their knees in the hangar and broke apart. With more effort, they shook off the pain and numbness and jumped to their ships. Falco's arwing had been repaired a long time ago… and he was now grateful. As the team boosted away, they finally felt safe. Katt looked backward with her eyes full of tears and looked down.

"You'll get a new ship… start a new team with those others. See? We're all alive… I'm alive, Kuju, Marr… and Strum's ship wasn't in the hangar. I suppose he got out first…"

"No… you can't stay here. Not now… your team needs you. Star Fox needs you."

"But… you need me, too… don't you?" He looked into his mirror and saw into her cockpit behind him.

"I suppose… but they need you more. And don't you go changing… okay? I want you to stay the same cocky jerk I know, right?" She smirked weakly. "You're gonna stay the same, aren't you?"

"Don't see why I'd change." He relaxed for a moment and then jerked his eyes open. "Where's Pigma?"

Pigma flew in beside them with a grin and locked his crosshair over Katt, readying a bomb to fire. "Hiya, guys! Long time no see! Now, I apologize for this, but I'm gonna have to-" Without warning, his ship caught fire and spiraled downward. "Yeeeeeargghhh!"

Falco stared silently, along with the rest of the team.

"Oh, yesssss… there we are. Pigma isssss neutralizzzzed for now, you ssssssee?"

"There you are, Strum!" Katt sighed with relief and blocked out Pigma obnoxious screaming in the background. "We were afraid you didn't make it."

"I am ssssssorry, Misssssss Monroe. I caught wind of the plot with Pigma and made sssure I ssssstopped it. You undersssstand."

"Yeah…" Katt pointed her eyes down and flew next to Falco. "Falco?"

"Yeah, Katt? You made a decision?"

"I can't go with you… I have my own reasons. My own obligations…"

Falco silently stared at Katt for a few seconds, then down at his controls. "Makes sense… you have all these guys to help."

"I'm glad you understand… try to come visit me sometime?"

"If I'm able to, I will. Don't you worry." Falco nodded.

"I guess… this is… goodbye then. Goodbye, Falco…"

"Until we meet again… Miss Monroe." He smirked and snickered, Katt rolled her eyes as she noticed his joke on Kuju. He lowered his head and pulled away right. Katt did the same going left. They finally parted ways, both hoping to see each other again.

"Now that was action…" Falco coughed and poked the still broken computer. It was clear it had been fixed at some point, but then broken again, though not to Falco's knowledge. It no longer had the same broken area, but was instead crushed entirely. Falco dismissed it quickly. "But where am I gonna get any action and stuff to do now?" He looked into the distance and felt his mouth open slowly. "What… the heck?" He rubbed his eyes with amazement and advanced forward. "Well, I don't believe it!" He clicked on his transmission and heard a familiar voice. Slowly, he reached his beak to the radio and spoke.

"Hey, McCloud! Different time, different planet, and you still need Falco's help…" He smirked. "It's good to see ya, buddy!"

With these words, he awoke with a pulsing feeling in his head, his face dug into the cavernous floor and his mouth clammy with the taste of dirt. He coughed aloud and shook all of the mud and dirt out of his hair. "Ugh…"

"Well… good to see you're okay, Falco." Fox stood above him, still aided by Fara. "You don't look hurt."

"I… suppose… what happened?" Falco coughed hard again.

"We crashed… and now we're looking for everyone."

"Well, you found me…" His legs felt numb like in his nightmare, but he managed to stand up, almost feeling used to it by now. "Who's left?"

"Only a few… but we seem lucky so far. Maybe our luck will keep going." Fox coughed too, almost as if it was contagious.

Falco smirked again and felt his words mirrored from his past. "It's good to see ya, buddy."


	13. Encounter With the Titan

**Chapter 11: Encounter With the Titan**

"Who…?" Skye was battered completely, bruises spotting his body in bright blacks and blues beneath his now rugged fur, a cut streaming slowly from his cheek, right above the bone and below his eye, just barely an inch away. His leg felt broken, but he knew it must have just been an exaggeration of his condition. A sprain, maybe? He didn't feel like thinking about it, all that mattered was that he was hurt. But how hurt? And how hurt! The pain sizzled quite strongly in his leg from his twisted leg, and it radiated throughout his nerves. A very unpleasant feeling, as he was not seriously hurt very often, even with such a dangerous job. His eyes close shut and his teeth clenched tight; he moved an arm from the ground to touch it softly, and then returned it to the cold ground. He was almost on his side, the knee of his left leg pointing toward the ceiling in the large and unusually spacious room and his right leg, the bad one, laying slack on its side upon the ground, knee pointed to his right. He felt weak, but he still managed to keep his torso twisted to the right, hip pressing to the ground and supporting him on the right side, neck held upward. A thick and gray rocky dust had built up on his hands from his impact into the ground. But what had hit him? He remembered awakening with this pain, but then… a strike came? Was that what he had felt upon his consciousness? A strike, then, he decided.

He felt another strike smash against him from the front this time. He definitely knew it was a strike he had felt before. Something hard dug into his flesh against his chest and lashed up to his face, cutting his face again, across his nose. He held a paw to his bleeding nose and exclaimed a curse, eyes shortly after jolting open to witness his attacker.

"Weak, weak… weak. Weak, even for a youngling. Can't take a little kick? Now, how can I have any fun if my foot is the least of your worries?"

"W-who… who are you, and what the heck is wrong with you!?" Skye struggled to think of much else to say in his anger and growled with a sudden and expected feeling of rage. He painfully moaned with a slight squeak in the back of his throat as he rocketed himself up to his feet and glared into the eyes of his enemy. The eyes glared back and Skye's fur began to stand up all over his body in a quick reaction, his eyes widened at the feeling. A cold and sinister silver glare met his, one from a mysterious fox who had a striking resemblance to his own… more than just a striking resemblance; their features were near identical, though their eyes, fur, and clothing were obviously greatly apart.

"Heheh… don't like that? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger… or so they say." The fox walked away a step so he was facing away from Skye and sighed out. He waved his claws along the air and laced them along his arm, his other paw cupped on his elbow, his almost mystical eyes shining with the darkness of the cavern. A haunting sapphire glow filled them as the indigo blue of the shady caverns reflected back from his deep grays and filled them with the light.

"Who are you, then!?" Skye's teeth were bared, his own cerulean eyes dank with his surroundings. His paw remained clasped on his nose to keep it from bleeding more than it already was, that bit that he could not stop. He could feel his heart pounding already, and for a brief moment, he remembered the rest of the team. Were they okay? He could only hope they were… it was lucky for him enough that he avoided all of the spire-like sharp rocks that filled the area around him. He could not focus on them with the intimidating fox taking all of his focus, but he still saw the area around him when he awakened. He felt lucky to be alive.

"Your future leader, all's future leader, if all goes swimmingly… of all of this."

"I don't think owning a buggy eatery, a vast expanse of quicksand, and a section of underground moon caves is going to be prime real estate." Skye rubbed his arm, particularly on a large bluish bruise as he spoke, eyes low and dim with anger, though obviously filled with great restrain. "Now would you mind giving me a name?"

"A name, hm?" The brutally insensitive figure scoffed and broke into a fiendish laughter. "From where I'm from, such a luxury fetches a fine price." He smiled and gestured Skye upward with a sharp claw tip. "I took this off of you. You were pretty mashed up from the landing, so I took my time to investigate your belongings." His paw had the metal grip of Skye's blade within it, the thin steel mangled very slightly from the crash impact.

"What do you want, then? A trade? I don't think I'm in a condition for haggling, whoever you are."

"Moron." The purity of shadow tossed his flowing hair aside and followed with the flight of the silver weapon, like a gray comet sailing across the sky into his light ego's hands. The toss missed its mark considerably and the blade barely missed striking into Skye's breast like a throwing knife. Skye winced and flailed his paws through the air to grasp it as it came, but he was off-guard and thus could not reach it at its speed, appearing very unskilled and foolish in the process. The handle of Skye's all-important weapon glinted as it shot by his side and fell with a clatter on the ground. Skye stepped backward, eyes locked onto the apparent foe. A gesture of great precision, the dark shadow that was Skye's newly made adversary had never intended to kill him, or hurt him in any way.

The scramble for the weapon was short-lived, this Dark Skye waiting patiently for the panicked fox to ready his stance.

"Quite finished, you?" The words followed with a blink and a bored stare. "Most people can ready themselves about twice this fast, even if they are surprised, though I suppose your condition merits you a little bit of pity. And I give your catching ability a one out of five. As is all your other abilities, I surmise. Hurry up and get ready so you can die with speed, unless you'd like to suffer… which I am, as always, fine with."

"You're crazy…" Skye spat and huffed, a claw pressing into the side of the blade and flicking it on, enveloping the sword with a sharp light and energy that covered the blade with a thickness of roughly two inches, those of which could cut through stone with little trouble. His paw slipped into his pocket while his eyes gleamed with fury.

"No, no, no… I said I went through your things, right? You're not going to find this in there." He tossed Skye's Star Fox seal-marked blaster onto the ground and buried a foot into it, crushing it slightly, the material starting to bend inward and release a very high pitched and metallic squeal. "Cheap piece of junk. Not as if it would help you much… at all." In a blinding flash, the blaster was sparking and fizzling with destruction, a shining beam of a sword in Skye's doppelganger's hand as well. "And now, we ride. Last words before I rend you sans your dignity? And life?"

"No point in wasting them on a supposedly nameless thug like you. If you're really so tough as you claim, then shut up and fight me already!" Skye glared and dove forward in assault.

The two met weapons together with a sizzling noise of hot laser biting together. Skye felt his arms begin to fold quickly at the extremely surprising force of the darkling fox and they soon began to fail him, only in a matter of mere seconds. He bit his teeth together with a dull sensation of pain, holding the ground of his frail bastion until the smirking shadow flooded his power forward and launched Skye's weapon away, as well as Skye himself to the ground.

"Hahaha. Not much effort on your part, but I do admit… that gleam in your eye gives just the slightest iota of hope… on my part, that is. Get up!"

Skye grimaced and swiped his blade back into his hand. He was already panting, though not exhausted so much as panicked, filled with adrenaline. After all, that was the only thing that would get him back to his feet in such a hopeless situation. His palm pressed to the rough floor with the weapon balanced within the outermost reaches of his fingers and along with the aid of his left leg, he rolled to the right and sprung up with a lift of his right foot, a spin that caught him back on his feet.

"Amateur recovery. If I wanted to, I could've sliced a beam right through your head. Of course, that describes your hopelessness through this entire happening. Try practicing a little more." He grinned and snickered. "I can always give you some practice with recovery, old dog, but you're on your own with your offense. Let's try again. With swipes, this time. Sword up, punk."

A first swipe from the horizontal, Skye's shadow form arced his elbow and threw his wrist into one smooth and charged motion. Skye bit into his lip as he watched the swing close in on his torso, he'd never quite fenced before, never duel style. He had always used sword fighting as a last resort, but whoever this stranger was, he certainly was serious with his swordplay. Not necessarily advanced, but he had power, and that was enough to keep a large advantage against the weaker and less skilled Skye. Skye's tongue exposed just the small tip against his lips, a grave focus had possessed his body. Though the new enemy was clearly just toying with him for now, he did not deny that he would not hesitate to do something crazy… he seemed unstable enough. He swung vertically and was reflected again, his foot pressing to the ground tightly to hold his place and balance. He paid more attention to his enemy's movements this time and blocked with a diagonal guard against a curving swing.

"Am I doing better now?" Skye panted still and his eyes felt buzzing with a strange sensation of alertness.

"No, no, you've got a lot left to do, you little punk. Everyone deserves a last lesson before they die… even those who think they know everything. It's happened to others, but it's always nice to see I can give a last lesson before death. I am always willing to teach that lesson."

Skye sighed out hard and locked his eyes to his darker self. He shook his hands until they would stay steady and coughed to keep his voice from shaking, too.

"Okay… then what's next, you maniac teacher?" He spat toward the dark Skye and the projectile landed on his foot. The darker Skye smiled with a large amusement and put the blade onto the steel toe with a hiss. His expression was unchanged and the black boot grew white and brown with a small burn.

"Nice shot. Perhaps guns are your strong point, after all. Then again, saliva and lasers are two completely different things."

"And swordsmanship comes next, y'know… I'm rusty, but now that I've back on my feet…" He paused and smirked with mischief in his eyes and paws, sword gripped in them firmly. "You're toast."

"Oh? Well… how interesting to know. How very interesting." The dark mirror's eyes dulled and fell halfway shut. "Allow me to test this hypothesis."

His feet launched him forward in tapping steps that raised dust scarcely into the air. Two feinting swings and twirls of his blade in the shape of an infinity symbol preceded a true swing that curved from below and met lower than would be expected, but was narrowly blocked within a hair's reach, all the while biting through the air with a harsh whooshing and crackling of laser with the air and dust. The brutality resumed with a buck of the doppelganger's weapon and a spin that caught Skye's ribs with a painful elbow. Skye gasped with pain and fell back; trying to both recover and preempt a blow that he was sure to receive. His chest and body bent and caved forward, but in his shock, he swung his blade upward and reflected a fourth blow, then a fifth then knocked him backward once more. He coughed with a slight taste of blood on his lip and wheezed from the impact.

"Very good! Most people don't see that one coming. I see you do have more skill than I gave you for. I guess I'll have to call you 'Worm' instead of 'Punk' now, huh? Congrats." His blade rose again. Skye's eyes widened for a split second, but he shed his doubt with a quick succession of blinks that cleared his eyes from fear and pain. "Of course… I can tell you've nothing for endurance. Look at that coughing! Nor power, we've been over that. But you've got enough skill to block me and enough coordination to see it coming. Very, very good! A worm's got to be able to block."

He whipped his blade up vertically from under Skye's with one paw that caught the second in midair for a concussive force that was blocked, but flipped Skye to his back nonetheless.

"We all want power, and I've got power. You, however, have a way to go." He pointed a sharp claw Skye's direction and snarled.

"Oh…?" Skye growled and shook the dust from his body. "You freakish little dirtball. I'm a man of observation, and I still have no idea what you're up to. You still never gave me a name and you still never told me why you had to get all crazy and attack me in the first place… so all I have left to believe is that you are either crazy, or you're some kind of freak hermit trying to teach some stupid lesson. What're you gonna do, then, huh? Are you going to be my grand 'Sensei'? Teach me the ways of your power?" Skye spat onto the ground with a small cough. "Tiger Claw, Eagle Fang? Teach me how to pluck people's eyes out?" Skye growled once more with a large air of irritation with his crazy newfound enemy, claws curling, speaking with an angry sarcasm. "Huh, that the plan?"

"Haha… no. Of course not." The darker Skye spat in formation into the same spot that the lighter Skye had before. "I'm just gonna torture you! And maybe, when I'm done, I'll kill you if you play nice enough! Sound fun? Okay, let's go, then, youngling. Let's have some fun, eh?" He laughed and deactivated his blade. Skye looked with both surprise and the creeping sensation of fear that had once again filled his eyes. But also with it came a new element of confusion at the apparent contradiction.

"You…?" Skye muttered, softly panting.

"Haha. I'm not gonna sit here and make you dance all day like a ballerina, I wanna see you face a real challenge."

"So you've said… had enough swinging like a madman for today?"

"Madman? Nah. Swinging? Oh, yes." He grinned wide and tucked away his blade. "It's quite clear that you've learned to fight against sword-wielders when in emergency situations, even though you're used to using a gun... many institutions tend to work that way."

Skye readied to strike again with his enemy's guard down. "Oh…? Then what do you have for me this time…?" His arms tensed, but he had otherwise no signs out preparation.

The second Skye bowed and slid a long, glowing chain from his pocket. One end had attached a weight of bulkier laser, and the other a small bulb. He breathed through his nose in accordance with a sudden swelling growth of the smaller bulb, until it was the size of a melon. He let the chain fall slowly until it reached the ground with a thump, Skye's observations indicating it was a weapon of good weight.

Skye panted with anticipation and dove forward with a cry of attack. His enemy had relaxed, closed eyes, and opened them with an upward swing of his weapon, bashing it against Skye's chest before he could get close enough to even attempt a swing. Skye was reflected backward with a grotesque spit and crashed into the ground.

"Let's see you fight against this." The other Skye grinned with a toying sadism and let the bulb weight hang to his side, slowly building a swinging momentum into the chain until it was swinging in circles at his side. "It's all about learning, my boy! That's all life's good for, anyway!" He cackled and swung again in a wide vertical arc, landing it flatly on Skye's back in a blunt slam before Skye could dodge to the side, Skye's legs easily giving out in a collapse, landing him on his chest, face full of dust.

"I'm disappointed… I thought you could truly amount to any challenge… I could sense it in you. But, I suppose…" His skin crawled and his muscles shivered across his arms. "You're worthless after all… not even a challenge. And there's no point in such a worthless creature like you, then, now is there?" His eyes shivered and his pupils lost shape and fell into ellipses, eyes turning red as hot embers.

"What's…?" Skye shivered and was unable to answer as the energy ball fell down toward his neck in a final finishing blow.

A deafening sound blotted out Skye's voice and the energy ball spun with an impact, spinning around behind him and striking the dark Skye in the back.

"Maddening-!? You again?" He stumbled.

"Well, there you are. I thought I'd find you here, by my luck." A figure spoke with a slight accent and fired his weapon again, another deafening sound and a splash of blood as the shot hit its target in the chest, dark Skye wounded. He growled and fiddled with the weapon in his hand for a second and spoke to himself with irritation. "Well, by Jove, I always forgot to keep this thing reloaded-" He fell back on his feet as a knife stuck through his gun, staring through the sparks and smoke at his target. "Always a good shot, that devil…" He mumbled and tossed gun aside, Skye watching in relief and confusion.

"Don't find yourself so relieved yet, hunter…" Skye and the hunter both glanced up at dark Skye as he spoke perched on a rock with an orb in hand.

"Crumbs. Um, you, run." The hunter took off on foot and Skye stumbled to his feet, following and staggering in his pursuit.

"Good luck, friends…" Dark Skye twisted his mouth into a grin of victory and smashed his paw into the central wall of the cavern, leaving the glowing orb inside, and took his escape in the opposite direction to recover from his wound.

"W-where are we going?" Skye struggled to keep his battered body running, despite his bruises and injuries.

"Somewhere. Anywhere. Oh, just shut up and run, mate!" The hunter dragged Skye rudely and pulled him into a small nook inside the wall of the cavern.

"But…" Skye panted. "Why are we-" He was interrupted a second time with a brilliant explosion that collapsed the whole ceiling, sand and rocks all, filling the room quickly, clouding the air with dust.

"That would be why, my fox friend. Skye's a tough fiend, he knows how to work this place, these things, he's good with strategy, and-"

"Wait, wait… what? Skye? Me? But… what?" Skye lower his eyelids with a sarcastic and perplexed look.

"Skye. The one who attacked us? Have you been living under a rock? Then again, I don't suppose you would know all of the infor-"

"But that's my name…"

"Well, nice to meet you, lad! I'm Lucifer. Feel free to-"

"What is he? And who is he? How was he that powerful, I mean some people can be powerful like that, but…"

"Lad, will you stop interrupting and let me… oh… just… just listen to me. Right now, this room is going to fill beyond capacity with sand and rocks… I don't have the time to explain right now, but the point is that if we don't work fast, we're going to take a dirt nap, and quite literally. Now will you shut up and work with me?"

"I don't quite…" He looked out of the nook to the quickly crumbling room and felt sand pool at his feet. "I suppose I don't have any other choice. You lead the way."

"Follow me, and hurry, lad! We've not time to lose."


End file.
